Where does “mileage” come from?

Mileage derives from English mile plus the suffix -age, with mile coming from Middle English mile, from Latin milium, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mel-.

mileage (English): The total distance travelled in miles or in air...

Definitions

  1. The total distance travelled in miles or in air...

Ancestry of “mileage”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmileThe international mile: a unit of length...
2Middle Englishmylemile; The time it takes to walk a mile;...
3Old Englishmīlmillet; mile
4Latinmīlia—
5Proto-West Germanicmīlijumile
6LatinMīllethousand; 1000
7Proto-Italicsmīɣeslīthousand
8Proto-Indo-Europeansmih₂ǵʰéslih₂—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ →Every word from Proto-Italic smīɣeslī →Every word from Latin Mīlle →