Etymograph

English

miller

Miller comes from Middle English myllere, earlier mylnere, possibly from Old English *mylnere, from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnārī ‘miller’.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mulīnārī1‘miller’uncertain
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mylnere1‘miller’uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mylnere1‘miller’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500myllere1‘miller’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1944miller1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English miller
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and December, Some Memories of Crewe Works—II: “Besides the usual run of machines, planers, millers, automatics,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mulīnārīWiktionary, English miller‘miller’uncertain
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mylnereWiktionary, English miller‘miller’uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mylnereWiktionary, English miller‘miller’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500myllereWiktionary, English miller‘miller’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1944millerWiktionary, English miller. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1944, and December, Some Memories of Crewe Works—II: “Besides the usual run of machines, planers, millers, automatics,…”

The story

From Middle English myllere, mellere, from earlier mylnere, possibly from an Old English *mylnere, from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnārī (‘miller’), equivalent to mill + -er; cf. also Late Latin molīnārius (‘miller’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ‘to grind, crush’

meal, mold, mild, mould, camo, mule, bonanza, melatonin, amalgam, moulin, maelstrom, mull, martel, moline, malleable, malm, amyl, 41 more

through Latin mola ‘millstone’

mole, molar, 3 more

through Proto-West Germanic *mulīnārī

muller

Today it means

noun A person who owns or operates a mill, especially a flourmill.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “miller”. 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-West Germanic *mulīnārī / miller

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