LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
numeralsemi-indeclinable numeral

mīlle1

mīlle (genitive mīlle)
Classical[ˈmiːl.lɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈmil.le]
№ 247 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. thousand; 1000
    Mīlle hominum rīsit, or, mīlle hominēs rīsērunt or, less preferrably, mīlle hominum rīsērunt.A thousand people laughed.
    Duo mīlia ovium tōnsa sunt.Two thousand sheep have been sheared.

In the readers how our graded readers gloss it

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativemīllemīllemīlle
genitivemīllemīllemīlle
dativemīllemīllemīlle
accusativemīllemīllemīlle
ablativemīllemīllemīlle
vocativemīllemīllemīlle

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

a mille passibus
a mile away.
decem milibus aeris damnari
to be fined 10,000 asses.

mille, in the plur. mīlia (or millia;
I. archaic, MEILIA, Inscr. Orell. 3308; abl. sing. milli, Lucil. ap. Gell. 1, 16, and ap. Macr. S. 1, 5), num. adj. Sanscr. root mil-, combine, associate; Gr. ὅμιλος; cf. miles, a thousand, thousands.
I. Lit.
A. In gen., sometimes in sing. subst, with gen.; in plur, only subst. with gen.: equites mille viā breviore praemissi, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 9, 3: mille et quingentis passibus abesse, Caes. B. G. 1, 22.—With gen.: mille drachumarum Olympicūm, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 23: spondeo et mille auri Philippum dotis, id. ib. 5, 2, 34; cf.: mille nummūm, Cic. Phil. 6, 5, 15; id. ap. Gell. 1, 16, 5: mille denariūm, Gell. 1, 16, 9: mille quingentos aeris in censum adferre, Cic. Rep. 2, 22, 40: ibi occiditur mille hominum, Quadrig. ap. Gell. 1, 16, 1: hominum mille versabatur, Cic. Mil. 20, 53.—So with verb in sing., Cic. Att. 4, 16, 14; Plaut. Truc. 2, 6, 4; Ter. Heaut. 3, 3, 40: mille equitum, Caes. B. C. 3, 84; Liv. 21, 61: mille militum, Nep. Milt. 5, 1: plus mille et centum annorum est, Varr. ap. Gell. 1, 16, 3: mille annorum, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 87: passuum, Cato ap. Gell. l. l.; Caes. B. G. 1, 25, 5 al.; cf. Zumpt, Gr. § 116.—In plur. with gen.: Thracum mille aut duo milia occidere, Cic. Phil. 14, 5, 12: sexcenta milia mundorum, id. N. D. 1, 34, 96.—Without gen.: censa sunt civium capita centum quadraginta tria milia septingenta quatuor, Liv. 35, 9: sagittarios tria milia numero habebat, Caes. B. C. 3, 4: tot milia, gentes Arma ferunt Italae, Verg. A. 9, 132: decem milia talenta, Hier. in Evang. Matt. 18, 24: quatuor milia, funditores et sagittarii, Liv. 37, 40, 9; cf. id. 37, 40, 11; 38, 38, 13; 37, 58, 4: tritici modios CXX milia polliceri, Caes. B. C. 2, 18, 4; 3, 4, 3: Graecis peditibus mercede conductis, triginta milibus, praepositus, Curt. 3, 9, 2; 9, 3, 21; 5, 1, 41; Liv. 34, 52, 7.—Distributively: in milia aeris asses singulos, on every thousand, Liv. 29, 15.—
B. In partic.: mille passus, mille passuum, or simply mille, a thousand paces, i. e. a Roman mile, which is estimated at 1618 English yards, or 142 yards less than the English statute mile: milli passum dixit (sc. Lucilius) pro mille passibus ... aperteque ostendit mille et vocabulum esse et singulari numero dici, Gell. 1, 16, 13; Cic. Att. 4, 16, 4: ultra quadringenta milia, id. ib. 3, 4.—Prov.: mille passuum mora, a mile's delay, i. e. a long delay, Plaut. Truc. 2, 3, 13; cf.: mille passuum commoratu's cantharum, id. Men. 1, 2, 64.—
II. Transf., like the Gr. μυρία, a thousand, for innumerable, infinite (mostly poet.): mille pro uno Kaesones exstitisse, Liv. 3, 14, 4; 2, 28, 4: mille trahens varios adverso sole colores, Verg. A. 4, 701: tentat mille modis, Hor. C. 3, 7, 12: mille pericula saevae urbis, Juv. 3, 8; 12, 46: quomodo persequatur unus mille, Vulg. Deut. 32, 30. —Plur.: ante milia annorum, Plin. 14 praef. 1, § 3: milia tumulorum, Prud. cont. Symm. 1, 516: erat numerus eorum milia milium, Vulg. Apoc. 5, 11; so, mille alia, alia mille, innumerable others, Quint. 2, 15, 23; Sen. Ep. 24, 14.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sm̥-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*smih₂
  4. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰes-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰéslom
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰéslih₂
  7. Proto-Indo-European*smih₂ǵʰéslih₂
  8. Proto-Italic*smīɣeslī
  9. Latinmīlle

From Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī, from earlier *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂, from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- (“one”) + *-ih₂ (feminine suffix) + *ǵʰés-lo- (“heap”) + *-ih₂. Compare Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi), Persian هزار (hezâr), and Sanskrit सहस्र (sahásra).

Occitano-Romance
  • Catalanmil
  • Occitanmila
  • Occitanmil
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italianmille
  • Italianmilione
  • Corsicanmille
  • Dalmatianmel
  • Sicilianmilli
  • Sicilianmiḍḍi
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesemil
  • Spanishmilfrom Old Spanish mil
  • Aragonesemil
  • Asturianmil
  • Galicianmil
  • Mirandesemil
  • Kadiwéumiilifrom Portuguese mil
  • Papiamentumilfrom Portuguese mil
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianmila
  • Sardinianmilli
Balkan Romance
  • Romanianmie
  • Aromaniannjilje
  • Albanianmijë
Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchmillefrom Old French mile
  • Normanmillefrom Old French mile
North Italian
  • Emilianméll
  • Friulianmil
  • Romagnolmèl
  • Romagnolmĕl
  • Romagnolmẹll
  • Romanshmilli
Ancient borrowings
  • Basquemila
  • Irishmílefrom Old Irish míle
  • Manxmilleyfrom Old Irish míle
  • Scottish Gaelicmìlefrom Old Irish míle
  • Proto-Brythonic*mil
  • Proto-West Germanic*mīliju
noun · neuter
mīlle2
mīlle n
№ 247 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. a mile, particularly a Roman mile of 8 stades (stadia); 1,000 paces (passūs); or 5,000 feet (pedes)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemīllemīlia
mīllia
genitivemīllemīlium
mīllium
dativemīllemīlibus
mīllibus
accusativemīllemīlia
mīllia
ablativemīlle
mīllī		mīlibus
mīllibus
vocativemīllemīlia
mīllia

Origins

Shortened from Latin mīlle passūs, mīlle passuum (“Roman mile”, literally “a thousand of paces”).

Italo-Romance
  • Italianmiglia
  • Italianmiglio
  • Corsicanmigliu
Borrowings
  • Catalanmilla
  • Spanishmilla
  • Greekμίλιfrom Ancient Greek μίλιον
  • Hebrewמַיְלfrom Ancient Greek μίλιον
  • Armenianմղոնfrom Ancient Greek μίλιον
  • Classical Syriacܡܝܠܐfrom Aramaic mīlā
  • Classical Syriacܡܝܠfrom Aramaic mīlā
  • Middle Armenianմիլfrom Aramaic mīlā
  • Turkishmilfrom Aramaic mīlā
  • Persianمیلfrom Aramaic mīlā
Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchmille
  • Normanmille
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianmiza
Iberian-Romance
  • Portuguesemilhafrom Old Galician-Portuguese milha
  • Galicianmillafrom Old Galician-Portuguese milha

Quick answers

What does mīlle mean in Latin?
mīlle, a numeral, means “thousand; 1000”.
How do you pronounce mīlle?
In classical Latin, [ˈmiːl.lɛ]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmil.le].
Where does mīlle come from?
Proto-Indo-European *sem- → Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- → Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ → Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- → Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslom → Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslih₂ → Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ → Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī → Latin mīlle.