ˈmīl, esp before pause or consonant -īəl noun
( plural miles also mile )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English mīl; akin to Old High German mīla, mīlla mile; both from a prehistoric West Germanic word borrowed from Latin milia miles (from milia passuum, literally, thousands of paces), plural of mille mile, from mille passus, literally, thousand paces, from mille thousand + passus, plural of passus step, pace; Latin mille thousand perhaps from a prehistoric compound whose first constituent is represented by Greek hen-, heis one and whose second constituent is akin to Greek chilioi thousand, Sanskrit sa hasra — more at same
1. : any of various units of distance derived from an ancient Roman unit equal to 1620 English yards or 1482 meters: as
a. : a unit equal to 5280 ft.
a distance of six miles
a mile race
— called also statute mile ; see measure table
b. : nautical mile
2. : a race of a mile
has achieved a four minute mile
3. : a relatively great distance or interval
missed the target by a mile
thoughts miles away
his guilt stuck out a mile