miles

See also: Miles and mīlēs

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɪlz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪlz

Noun

miles

1. plural of mile
2. (informal) A great distance in space or time.

   His final shot missed the bullseye by miles.

   From the top of the hill you can see for miles.

   No need to hurry. The deadline is miles away.

Adverb

miles (not comparable)

1. much; a lot (used to emphasise a comparative)

   Her new paintings are miles better than her older ones.

   • 1972, Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Knopf, page 129:

     The recipe was miles too strong.

Anagrams

• Imels, Liems, Selim, limes, milse, misle, slime, smile

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

miles ?

1. plural of mile

Latin

Alternative forms

• milex (Vulgar or Late Latin, Appendix Probi)

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly of Etruscan origin. The suffix seems similar to that of pedes, eques, veles, comes, but the origin of mīl- is opaque. A connection to mīlia (“thousands”), perhaps as "person going by the thousand(s)", is difficult to confidently motivate semantically.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.les/, [ˈmiːɫ̪ɛs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.les/, [ˈmiːles]

Noun

mīles m or f (genitive mīlitis); third declension

1. (military) A soldier.

   mīles gregārius ― a private (lit., a "common soldier")

2. (Medieval Latin) A knight.
3. A man in boardgames such as ludus latrunculi and chess.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	mīles	mīlitēs
genitive	mīlitis	mīlitum
dative	mīlitī	mīlitibus
accusative	mīlitem	mīlitēs
ablative	mīlite	mīlitibus
vocative	mīles	mīlitēs

Derived terms

• mīlitāris
• mīlitāriter
• mīlitārius
• mīlitia
• mīlitō

 

Descendants

• → Italian: milite
• → Piedmontese: mìlit
• → Portuguese: mílite
• Romanian: mire (uncertain)
• → Spanish: mílite
• → Welsh: milwr

References

• “miles”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “miles”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• miles in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• miles in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to fire with courage: animos militum accendere
    
  • to give furlough, leave of absence to soldiers: commeatum militibus dare (opp. petere)
    
  • veterans; experienced troops: vetus miles, veteranus miles
    
  • a soldier lightly armed, ready for battle: expeditus (opp. impeditus) miles
    
  • to pay the troops: stipendium dare, numerare, persolvere militibus
    
  • to encourage, embolden the soldiery: animos militum confirmare (B. G. 5. 49)
    
  • (ambiguous) to levy troops: milites (exercitum) scribere, conscribere
    
  • (ambiguous) to compel communities to provide troops: imperare milites civitatibus
    
  • (ambiguous) to make soldiers take the military oath: milites sacramento rogare, adigere
    
  • (ambiguous) light infantry: milites levis armaturae
    
  • (ambiguous) soldiers collected in haste; irregulars: milites tumultuarii (opp. exercitus iustus) (Liv. 35. 2)
    
  • (ambiguous) mercenary troops: milites mercennarii or exercitus conducticius
    
  • (ambiguous) to keep good discipline amongst one's men: milites disciplina coercere
    
  • (ambiguous) to keep good discipline amongst one's men: milites coercere et in officio continere (B. C. 1. 67. 4)
    
  • (ambiguous) to take the troops to their winter-quarters: milites in hibernis collocare, in hiberna deducere
    
  • (ambiguous) to leave troops to guard the camp: praesidio castris milites relinquere
    
  • (ambiguous) to harangue the soldiers: contionari apud milites (B. C. 1. 7)
    
  • (ambiguous) to harangue the soldiers: contionem habere apud milites
    
  • (ambiguous) to disembark troops: milites in terram, in terra exponere
    
• miles in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Anagrams

• limes

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiles/ [ˈmi.les]
• Rhymes: -iles
• Syllabification: mi‧les

Noun

miles m pl (plural only)

1. thousands

   Synonym: millares

   hace miles de años ― thousands of years ago

Usage notes

• Miles is only used in the indefinite sense of the word "thousands":

  miles de pesos ― thousands of pesos

• Otherwise, the singular mil is used:

  dos mil pesos ― two thousand pesos" ($2,000)

  cien mil pesos ― a hundred thousand pesos" ($100,000)

Numeral

miles

1. plural of mil