mile

Definitions

From Latin mille passus, 'a thousand paces' — the Roman army's road unit. The passus ('pace') fell away over time, leaving just mille ('thousand') to carry the whole meaning of the distance. So 'mile' literally hides the number 'thousand' inside it.

Why It Means This

A Roman 'pace' was a full left-right stride, so a thousand of them came out to roughly 1,480 metres. The modern statute mile (1,760 yards) is a later English adjustment, but the name still preserves the buried 'thousand.' This is why mile feels like a plain root word, not a number — the count is completely hidden.

Common Collocations

• 1.miles away几英里之外
• 2.a few miles几英里
• 3.miles per hour英里每小时
• 4.for miles绵延数英里
• 5.the last mile最后一英里

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The nearest town is about ten miles from here.

• 2.

  She runs three miles every morning before work.

• 3.

  His answer was miles off the mark.