noun · masculinethird declension
mīles
mīles m or f (genitive mīlitis)
Classical[ˈmiː.ɫɛs]Ecclesiastical[ˈmiː.les]
№ 161 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- A soldier.
mīles gregārius
a private (lit., a "common soldier") - Medieval LatinA knight.
- A man in boardgames such as ludus latrunculi and chess.
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quī in exercitū servit et pugnat.mīles -itis m — in Mille Verba, Bellum et Arma
vir armātusmīles -itis (m) — in Evangelium secundum Marcum, ch. 10
vir armātus, bellātormīles -itis (m) — in Metamorphoses I, †
soldier
mīles -itis — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 1, 7, 8, 15, 24
a soldier
mīles — in Seneca, ch. XX
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | mīles | mīlitēs |
| genitive | mīlitis | mīlitum |
| dative | mīlitī | mīlitibus |
| accusative | mīlitem | mīlitēs |
| ablative | mīlite | mīlitibus |
| vocative | mīles | mīlitēs |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- milites levis armaturae
- light infantry.
- animos militum accendere
- to fire with courage.
- milites disciplina coercere
- to keep good discipline amongst one's men.
- vetus miles, veteranus miles
- veterans; experienced troops.
- imperare milites civitatibus
- to compel communities to provide troops.
- contionem habere apud milites
- to harangue the soldiers.
- expeditus (opp. impeditus) miles
- a soldier lightly armed, ready for battle.
- milites sacramento rogare, adigere
- to make soldiers take the military oath.
11 more phrases
- milites in terram, in terra exponere
- to disembark troops.
- praesidio castris milites relinquere
- to leave troops to guard the camp.
- contionari apud milites (B. C. 1. 7)
- to harangue the soldiers.
- commeatum militibus dare (opp. petere)
- to give furlough, leave of absence to soldiers.
- animos militum confirmare (B. G. 5. 49)
- to encourage, embolden the soldiery.
- milites (exercitum) scribere, conscribere
- to levy troops.
- milites mercennarii or exercitus conducticius
- mercenary troops.
- stipendium dare, numerare, persolvere militibus
- to pay the troops.
- milites in hibernis collocare, in hiberna deducere
- to take the troops to their winter-quarters.
- milites tumultuarii (opp. exercitus iustus) (Liv. 35. 2)
- soldiers collected in haste; irregulars.
- milites coercere et in officio continere (B. C. 1. 67. 4)
- to keep good discipline amongst one's men.
mīlĕs (MEILES, Inscr. Mur. 582; late form, milex, Gromat. Vet. p. 246, 19), ĭtis, comm. Sanscr root mil-, to unite, combine; cf.:
mille, milites, quod trium millium primo legio fiebat, ac singulae tribus Titiensium, Ramnium, Lucerum milia singula militum mittebant, Varr. L. L. 5, § 89 Müll., I. a soldier.
I. Lit.
A. In gen.:
miles, qui locum non tenuit, Cic. Clu. 46, 128: legere milites, to levy, raise, Pompei, ap. Cic. Att. 8, 12 a, 3: scribere, to enlist, enroll, Sall. J. 43, 3: deligere, Liv. 29, 1: ordinare, to form into companies, id. ib.: mercede conducere, to hire, take into one's pay, id. ib. 29, 5: dimittere, to dismiss, Cic. Fam. 3, 3, 2: miles tremulus, i. e. Priam, Juv. 10, 267: miles cum die, qui prodictus sit, aberat, neque excusatus erat, infrequens dabatur, Gell. 16, 4, 5.—B. In partic., of foot-soldiers, infantry, in opp. to eques:
tripartito milites equitesque in expeditionem inisit, Caes. B. G. 5, 10: v. eques.—Opp. to the general: miles gregarius, or miles alone, a common soldier, private: strenui militis et boni imperatoris officia simul exsequebatur, Sall. C. 60, 4; id. J. 62; Vell. 2, 18, 1 volgus militum, Liv. 22, 30, 7: maritim as, a soldier in sea-service, marine, Plaut. Capt. 1, 2, 61.—II. Transf.
A. Collect., the soldiery, the army (esp. freq. in the postAug. per.), Liv. 22, 57 fin.; Verg. A. 2, 495; Vell. 1, 15, 1; 2, 78, 2; Tac. A. 1, 2; 24; 2, 16; Juv. 10, 155; 16, 18 et saep.—
B. Under the emperors, an armed servant of the emperor, court-official, Cod. Th. 11, 1, 34; Dig. 4, 6, 10.—
C. A chessman, pawn, in the game of chess:
discolor ut recto grassetur limite miles, Ov. Tr. 2, 477.—D. Fem., of a woman who is in childbed for the first time:
et rudis ad partūs et nova miles eram, Ov. H. 11, 48.—Of a nymph in the train of Diana: miles erat Phoebes, Ov. M. 2, 415.— E. (Eccl. Lat.) Of a servant of God or of Christ, struggling against sin, etc.:
bonus Christi, Vulg. 2 Tim. 2, 3.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
mīles itis, m and f
MIL-, a soldier : ut fortīs decet Milites, T.: milites scribere, enlist , S.: ordinare, form into companies , L.: mercede conducere, hire , L.: dimittere, dismiss .—Esp., a footsoldier, infantry : milites equitesque, Cs.— A common soldier, private (i. e. miles gregarius): strenui militis et boni imperatoris officia, S.: volgus militum, L.—Collect., soldiery, army : Macedoniam sine ullo milite reliquisse: loca milite complent, V.: multus, H.— A chessman, pawn : Discolor, O. — Fem ., of a woman in her first childbed: rudis ad partūs, O.—Of a nymph of Diana: miles erat Phoebes, O.
Origins
Unknown; possibly of Etruscan origin. The suffix seems similar to that of comes, eques, pedes, and veles, but the origin of the mīl- is obscure. A connection to mīlia (“thousands”), perhaps as "person going by the thousand(s)", is difficult to confidently motivate semantically.
Descendants
- Italianmilite
- Portuguesemílite
- Romanianmire
- Spanishmílite
- Piedmontesemìlit
- Welshmilwr