mīlle

From Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī, from earlier *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂, from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥-(“one”) + *-ih₂ (feminine suffix) + *ǵʰés-lo- (“heap”) + *-ih₂. Compare Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi), Persian هزار (hezâr), and Sanskrit सहस्र (sahásra).

mīlle (genitive mīlle); semi-indeclinable numeral

thousand; 1000 [ quotations ▼]
Mīlle hominum rīsit, or, mīlle hominēs rīsērunt or, less preferrably, mīlle hominum rīsērunt. ― A thousand people laughed.

Duo mīlia ovium tōnsa sunt. ― Two thousand sheep have been sheared.

The singular form can be:
- originally a neuter noun with singular agreement taking the noun in genitive plural: mīlle mīlitum vēnit;
- an indeclinable adjective with plural agreement, by analogy with other cardinal numerals: mīlle mīlitēs vēnērunt ("a thousand soldiers came");
- or even a neuter noun with plural agreement, perhaps in a partitive sense: as in mīlle mīlitum vēnērunt.
The plural form normally behaves as a fully-declinable neuter noun of the third declension, with which the predicate agrees, as in duo mīlia mīlitum capta ("two thousand soldiers were captured");
- but not if part of a compound numeral, and not with personal reference in the absence of a genitive, in which case it's an adjective, as in duo mīlia quīngentae (mīlitēs) captae ("two thousand five hundred women (soldiers) were captured"), tria mīlia captī ("three thousand were captured").
An ablative singular form mīllī also occurs - see usage examples.
For additional information see Appendix:Latin cardinal numerals.

Semi-indeclinable numeral.

Shortened from Latin mīlle passūs, mīlle passuum (“Roman mile”, literally “a thousand of paces”).

mīlle n

a mile, particularly a Roman mile of 8 stades (stadia); 1,000 paces (passūs); or 5,000 feet (pedes)

Semi-indeclinable numeral.