Where does “milestone” come from?
Milestone derives from Middle English milestone, combining Middle English stone with Latin milium (thousand), from Latin mille (thousand), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- (to stand).
milestone (English): A stone milepost , one of a series of numbered...
Definitions
- A stone milepost , one of a series of numbered...
Ancestry of “milestone”, step by step
| 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 | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | smīɣeslī | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ | — |