millimetre
Meaninga thousandth of a metre
Common meaning: a thousandth of a metre
- milla thousandLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1144 · scan
- metrea measure, a rule for measuringLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 957 · scan
‘a thousand’ + ‘a measure, a rule for measuring’ → millimetre
Journey through time
Hybrid: Latin + Greek Its parts come from different languages; our sources do not record where they were first put together.
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- mill — Latin mīlle “a thousand” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- metre — Greek μέτρον “a measure, a rule for measuring” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin mīlle ‘a thousand’ + Greek μέτρον ‘a measure, a rule for measuring’.
Did you know (Greek metron, "a…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry μέτρον, p. 957 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Latin mille, a…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry mīlle, p. 1144 · dictionary scan
Roots
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app