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mil·let¹

(mĭlĭt)

1. Any of various annual grasses with small grains that are harvested for food, livestock feed, and birdseed, especially proso millet.

2. The grains of any of these plants.

[Middle English milet, from Old French, diminutive of mil, millet, from Latin milium; see melə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

mil·let²

(mĭlĭt)

A demographic group in the Ottoman Empire, defined in terms of religious affiliation and enjoying a degree of legal autonomy.

[Turkish, from Arabic milla (bound form millatu), religion, religious community, from Syriac milləṯā, word, creed; akin to Phoenician ml, word.]

Mil·let

(mĭ-lā, mē-), Jean François 1814-1875.

French painter whose works, such as The Gleaners (1857), portray peasant life and bucolic landscapes. He was a central figure of the Barbizon school.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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