Where does “metric mile” come from?
metric mile (English) comes from English metric, from English chronometric, from English -metric, from French -métrique, from Latin metricus, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον, from Ancient Greek -τρον — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
metric mile (English): A distance in international athletics (particularly track), the 1500 meter race, being about a mile (~1609 meters)
Definitions
- A distance in international athletics (particularly track), the 1500 meter race, being about a mile (~1609 meters)
Ancestry of “metric mile”, step by step
metric mile traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English metric
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | metric | Of or relating to the metric system of... |
| 2 | English | chronometric | Of or pertaining to a chronometer or to... |
| 3 | English | -metric | Forming adjectives corresponding to nouns in... |
| 4 | French | -métrique | -metric |
| 5 | Latin | metricus | metrical; metric, metrical; metric |
| 6 | Latin | metrum | a measure |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
via English mile
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | mile | The international mile: a unit of length... |
| 2 | Middle English | myle | mile; The time it takes to walk a mile;... |
| 3 | Old English | mīl | millet; mile |
| 4 | Latin | mīlia | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | mīliju | mile |
| 6 | Latin | Mīlle | thousand; 1000 |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | smīɣeslī | thousand |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ | — |