"M" Word Origins

Millie

Origin

A clipped, affectionate form of longer names like Mildred or Millicent, with the diminutive ending "-ie" added.

Milligan

Irish

From Irish Ó Maolagáin, meaning "descendant of Maolagán."

milligram

French

Borrowed from French milligramme, built from the prefix milli- ("one thousandth") plus gram.

milliken

Origin

Variant of Milligan.

millilitre

Origin

From milli- + litre, from French millilitre.

millimeter

Origin

From French millimètre, as if milli- + meter.

millimetre

French

From French millimètre, from milli- ("one thousandth") plus metre.

milliner

Origin

The noun is a variant of Milaner (“(obsolete) inhabitant or native of Milan”) (referring to the importation and sale of women’s apparel, etc., made in Milan: see noun sense 1), from Late Middle English Milener, Miloner (“native of Milan”), from Milan + -er(e) (suffix denoting an inhabitant or resident). The verb is derived from the noun.

milling

Origin

From "mill", the machine or building used for grinding or shaping material, plus the "-ing" ending.

Millington

Old English

From Old English mylen ("mill") plus tūn ("settlement").

million

Old French

From Old French million, from Italian milione, built from mille ("thousand") plus an augmentative suffix meaning "big thousand".

millionaire

French

From French millionnaire, formed from million plus the suffix "-aire" (as in "billionaire").

millionth

Origin

Formed from million plus the ordinal ending "-th".

millipede

Origin

From Latin mīllipeda (“wood louse”), from mīlle (“thousand”) + pēs, pedis (“foot”), equivalent to milli- + -pede.

millisecond

Origin

From milli- ("one thousandth") plus second, following the same pattern as millimetre and milligram.

Mills

Origin

From mills, in reference to mill owners and mill workers.

Millstone

Origin

A compound of mill and stone, describing the stone wheel used for grinding.

Milly

Origin

A clipped form of a longer name such as Mildred, with the diminutive ending "-y".

Milner

Middle English

An English occupational surname, a variant of "Miller" that kept the "-n-" from the older Middle English word mylnere.

milo

Portuguese

Probably connected to Portuguese milho ("millet"); early travellers often confused millet with sorghum, which is likely how the name spread.

milord

French

Borrowed into French from the English phrase "my Lord", then re-borrowed into English as a single word.

Milos

Greek

From Greek Μήλος (Mílos).

milsim

Origin

From military simulation.

milt

Old English

From Old English milte ("spleen"), tracing back through Germanic languages to a root meaning "to crush or grind" — related to German Milz and Dutch milt.

Milton

Old English

From Old English mylen ("mill") or middel ("middle") plus tun ("settlement").

Milwaukee

Origin

Perhaps from an Algonquian word meaning "gathering place by the water" or "the good land."

milwaukie

Origin

See Milwaukee. The city in Oregon was named after the one in Wisconsin.

mim

Origin

A Scots and dialect word imitating a pursed, tight-lipped expression.

Mima

Japanese

From Japanese Mima.

mime

Latin

From Latin mimus and ultimately Greek mîmos ("imitator, actor"), re-borrowed into English through French mime.

mimer

Origin

From mime + -er.

Mimi

French

From French and Italian Mimi.

mimic

Latin

From Latin mimicus, from Greek mīmikós ("belonging to mimes"), from mîmos ("imitator, actor") — the same root as mime.

mimmerkin

Origin

From mimmer + -kin. Cognate with Scots mimmerkin, memmerkin (“a dwarf, dwarfish creature”). Compare also mimmering (“doting, dreaming”).

mimophant

Origin

Blend of mimosa + elephant, coined by Arthur Koestler in 1972.

mimosa

New Latin

From New Latin mimosa, based on Latin mimus ("actor"), a nod to the plant's "performance" of shrinking away when touched. The cocktail takes its name from the bright yellow flowers of a related mimosa tree.

mimsy

Origin · 1871

Coined by Lewis Carroll as a blend of "miserable" and "flimsy" for his 1871 poem "Jabberwocky".

min

Origin

As "minute/minimum", simply a clipped abbreviation. As the language name, from the river Min in Fujian, China.

mina

Latin

From Latin mina, from Greek mnâ, related to the Hebrew maneh and the unit called a maund.

minacious

Origin

From Late Latin minacia (“threat”) + -ious, from Latin minax (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). Cf. Italian minaccioso, attested 1532.

Minami

Japanese

From Japanese Minami, meaning "south."

Minas

Greek

Two main origins for the surname: * Borrowed from Greek Μηνάς (Minás), a patronymic surname. * Borrowed from Spanish Minas or Miñas. The given name is from Greek Μηνάς (Minás) and Armenian Մինաս (Minas).

Minato

Japanese

From Japanese Minato, meaning "harbor."

mince

Old French

From Old French mincier ("to cut into small pieces"), related to Old English words meaning "to make smaller" — ultimately from the same root as "minus" and "minor".

minced

Origin

The past participle of "mince", formed by adding "-ed".

mincemeat

Origin

Originally "minced meat"; over time the fruit-and-spice filling replaced the meat, but the name stuck.

mind

Old English

From Old English mynd/gemynd ("mind, memory"), from a Germanic root ultimately tied to the Proto-Indo-European word for "thought" — the same root behind "mental" and "mention".

minded

Origin

From mind plus the ending "-ed", forming an adjective describing someone's mental disposition.