Standard Lemma guide

milli-

prefix · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈmɪlɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

prefix

Meaning 1

In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, one-thousandth of the unit to which it is prefixed; that is, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10−3. Symbol: m.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • Example: milligram

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: kilo-

2

prefix

Meaning 2

thousand

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • Example: millipede

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chilia-

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-ih2 Proto-Indo-European *smih2 Proto-Indo-European *ǵhes- Proto-Indo-European *-lom Proto-Indo-European *ǵhéslom ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-ih2 Proto-Indo-European *ǵhéslih2 Proto-Indo-European *smih2ǵhéslih2 Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī Latin mīlleder. French milli- English milli- From Latin mille (“thousand”), via French.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mili- — prefix
  • Belarusian: мілі- (mili-) — prefix
  • Bulgarian: мили- (mili-) — prefix
  • Catalan: mil·li- — prefix
  • Chinese Mandarin: 毫- (háo-) — prefix
  • Czech: mili- — prefix
  • Dutch: milli- — prefix
  • Estonian: milli- — prefix
  • Finnish: milli- — prefix
  • French: milli- — prefix
  • Galician: mili- — prefix
  • German: milli- — prefix
  • Greek: χιλιοστό- (chiliostó-) — prefix
  • Hindi: सहस्रि- (sahasri-) — prefix
  • Hungarian: milli- — prefix
  • Icelandic: milli- — prefix
  • Indonesian: mili- — prefix
  • Ingrian: milli- — prefix
  • Irish: mili- — prefix
  • Italian: milli- — prefix
  • Japanese: ミリ- (miri-) — prefix
  • Latvian: mili- — prefix
  • Lithuanian: mili- — prefix
  • Malagasy: mili- — prefix
  • Malay: mili- — prefix
  • Marathi: सहस्रि- (sahasri-) — prefix
  • Nepali: सहस्रि- (sahasri-) — prefix
  • Polish: mili- — prefix
  • Portuguese: mili- — prefix
  • Romanian: mili- — prefix
  • Russian: милли- (milli-) — prefix
  • Scottish Gaelic: mili- — prefix
  • Serbo-Croatian: mili- — prefix
  • Slovak: mili- — prefix
  • Slovene: mili- — prefix
  • Spanish: mili- — prefix
  • Swedish: milli- — prefix
  • Tagalog: kalibo- — prefix
  • Thai: มิลลิ- (min-lí-) — prefix
  • Turkish: mili- — prefix
  • Ukrainian: мілі- (mili-) — prefix
  • Vietnamese: mi-li — prefix
  • Yiddish: מילי־ (mili-) — prefix