Etymograph

English

mijl

Mijl comes from Dutch mijl ‘mijl, Dutch mile or league, a unit of length…’, from Latin mīlle ‘thousand’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smih₂ǵʰéslih₂1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smīɣeslī1‘thousand’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīlle2as mīlia‘thousand’
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500mile2
  5. Dutchc. 1500–presentmijl3‘mijl, Dutch mile or league, a unit of length notionally equivalent to an hour's walk’
  6. Englishtodaymijl3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mille
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Dutch mijl
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English mijl

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smih₂ǵʰéslih₂Wiktionary, Latin millereconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smīɣeslīWiktionary, Latin mille‘thousand’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmīlleWiktionary, Dutch mijlas mīlia‘thousand’
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500mileWiktionary, Dutch mijl
  5. Dutchc. 1500–presentmijlWiktionary, English mijl‘mijl, Dutch mile or league, a unit of length notionally equivalent to an hour's walk’
  6. EnglishtodaymijlWiktionary, English mijl

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī ‘thousand’

millionaire, 6 more

through Latin mīlle ‘thousand’

million, billion, yard, mile, billiard, milla, 10 more

Today it means

noun A former Dutch unit of distance, usually equivalent to about 3 miles or 5–6 km.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mijl”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin mille, Dutch mijl. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ / mijl

Shirt and support for this word