[mile] n [ME, fr. OE mil, fr. L milia miles, fr. milia passuum, lit., thousands of paces, fr. milia, pl. of mille thousand] (bef. 12c) 1: any of various units of distance: as a: a unit equal to 5280 feet b: nautical mile
2: a race of a mile
3: a relatively great distance or interval--used chiefly adverbially in pl. "was ~s too small"