Where does “million” come from?

million (Middle French) comes from Old French millon, from Italian milione, from Italian mille, from Latin Mīlle, from Proto-Italic smīɣeslī, from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂.

million (Middle French): million, 10

Definitions

  1. million, 10

Ancestry of “million”, step by step

million traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French millon

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmillon—
2Italianmilionemillion
3Italianmillethousand
4LatinMīllethousand; 1000
5Proto-Italicsmīɣeslīthousand
6Proto-Indo-Europeansmih₂ǵʰéslih₂—

via Old French million

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmillion—

Words derived from “million”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ →Every word from Proto-Italic smīɣeslī →Every word from Latin Mīlle →