mile

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmaɪl/ UK /maɪ̯l/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #3082

Meanings

1

noun
A unit of distance equal to about 1.6 kilometres.

The nearest town is about five miles from here.
2

noun
A very long distance (informal).

The shot missed the goal by a mile.
3

noun
A race that is one mile long.

She set a new school record in the mile.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms miles

Derived forms half-milekilomilelight-milemile-a-minutemile-fortletmilecastlemilelongmilestonemilewaymilewidemilometernegamile

Related forms mileagemilepostmilestonempg

Etymology

From Middle English myle, mile, from Old English mīl, from Proto-West Germanic *mīliju, a borrowing of Latin mīlia, mīllia, plural of mīle, mīlle (“mile”) (literally ‘thousand’ but used as a short form of mīlle passūs (“a thousand paces”)).

*sem- Proto-Indo-European myle Middle English mīl Old English *mīliju Proto-West Germanic mīlia Latin

View etymology graph ->

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Describing Qualities Register & Style

# mile

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈmaɪl
**IPA (UK):** maɪ̯l
**Frequency rank:** 3082

## Meanings
1. A unit of distance equal to about 1.6 kilometres.
2. A very long distance (informal).
3. A race that is one mile long.

## Examples
- The nearest town is about five miles from here.
- The shot missed the goal by a mile.
- She set a new school record in the mile.

## Derived Forms
- half-mile
- kilomile
- light-mile
- mile-a-minute
- mile-fortlet
- milecastle
- milelong
- milestone
- mileway
- milewide
- milometer
- negamile

## Related Forms
- mileage
- milepost
- milestone
- mpg

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *sem-
- Root: myle
- Root: mīl
- Root: *mīliju
- Root: mīlia

## Etymology
From Middle English myle, mile, from Old English mīl, from Proto-West Germanic *mīliju, a borrowing of Latin mīlia, mīllia, plural of mīle, mīlle (“mile”) (literally ‘thousand’ but used as a short form of mīlle passūs (“a thousand paces”)).

## AI Etymology
Mile comes from Middle English myle, mile, from Old English mīl, from Proto-West Germanic *mīliju, a borrowing of Latin mīlia, mīllia, plural of mīle, mīlle (“mile”) (literally ‘thousand’ but used as a short form of mīlle passūs (“a thousand paces”)). In present-day English its meanings include a unit of distance equal to about 1.6 kilometres, a very long distance (informal), and a race that is one mile long. The historical chain runs through *sem- (Proto-Indo-European), myle (Middle English), mīl (Old English), *mīliju (Proto-West Germanic), and mīlia (Latin). Related and derived forms include mileage, milepost, milestone, and half-mile.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

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