Where does “Milford” come from?

Milford derives from Old English mylen, from Latin millesimum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per-, referring to a mill situated by a ford.

Milford (English): A common place name, primarily within the British Isles and New England, often used for settlements with watermills built near fords, including

Definitions

  1. A common place name, primarily within the British Isles and New England, often used for settlements with watermills built near fords, including

Ancestry of “Milford”, step by step

Milford traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Mill

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMillJohn Stuart Mill, English libertarian and utilitarian philosopher
2EnglishmillionThe cardinal number 1,000,000: 10; a thousand...
3Middle EnglishmiliounThe cardinal number 1 000 000: 106; a thousand thousand
4Middle Frenchmillionmillion, 10
5Old Frenchmillon
6Italianmilionemillion
7Italianmillethousand
8LatinMīllethousand; 1000
9Proto-Italicsmīɣeslīthousand
10Proto-Indo-Europeansmih₂ǵʰéslih₂

via English Ford

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFordA make of car, named for Henry Ford
2Old Englishfordford
3Proto-West Germanicfurduford
4Proto-Germanicfurduzford
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpértuscrossing
6Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂Every word from Proto-Italic smīɣeslīEvery word from Latin Mīlle