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"mile" in seven languages

Meaningmile

Spanish

milla

/ˈmiʝa/

fem.inherited

The ll is unexpected: hoja (FOLIAM) shows the usual j.

French

mille

/mil/

masc.inherited

Used for the nautical and Roman mile; the English mile is often just called un mile.

Italian

miglio

/ˈmiʎʎo/

masc.inherited

plural: miglia (f)

Portuguese

milha

/ˈmiʎɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

milă

/ˈmilə/

fem.learned

plural: mile

A homonym of milă 'pity', which is Slavic.

Catalan

milla

/ˈmiʎə/

fem.inherited

English

mile

/maɪl/

from Latin/French · Old English mīl, from Latin MĪLIA

English → ItalianmilemiglioCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MĪLIA (PASSUUM)‘a thousand (paces)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A Roman mile was a thousand double paces. The neuter plural MĪLIA became a feminine singular in Spanish (la milla); Italian kept it as the plural, le miglia.

English relatives: million, millennium, millimetre

Sound laws at work

L + yod

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In a sentence

  • esEl barco estaba a diez millas de la costa.
  • frLe navire était à dix milles de la côte.
  • itLa nave era a dieci miglia dalla costa.
  • ptO navio estava a dez milhas da costa.
  • roNava era la zece mile de coastă.
  • caEl vaixell era a deu milles de la costa.
  • enThe ship was ten miles from the coast.

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