millennium en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /mɪˈlɛnɪəm/
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂ Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- Proto-Indo-European *-lom Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslom ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂ Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslih₂ Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī Latin mīlle Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *h₂etnós Proto-Italic *atnos? Latin annus Latin annīs Latin mīllennis Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -iusnom. Latin -ium Late Latin mīllenniumbor. English millennium From Late Latin mīllennium, from Latin mīllennis (“1000-year”) + -ium (forming abstract nouns).
Meanings
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(countable) A period of time consisting of one thousand years.
But these seekers, too, are saved - by virtue of the inherited symbolic aids of society, the rites of passage, the grace-yielding sacraments, given to mankind of old by the redeemers and handed down through millenniums.
1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 23:Magnolias are some of the most primitive of our flowering trees, and fossils dating back millennia prove that they have had little need to evolve.
2013 March 24, Dan Pearson, “Magnolia magic: how to grow our favourite flowering tree”, in The Guardian:How this happens no one really knows, despite the efforts of philosophers and psychologists over two and a half millennia to study the phenomenon.
1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 25:After millenniums of austerity and poverty, the age of limitless “superabundance” was at hand.
2025 March 18, Samuel Moyn, “Can Democrats Learn to Dream Big Again?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2025:The first known man-made tools, including spear points and axes, were associated with a hunting and gathering pattern that lasted, according to anthropologists, almost 200 millennia.
2013, Al Gore, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 37:
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(with-definite-article) The year in which one period of one thousand years ends and another begins, especially the year 2000.
A huge fireworks display was put on in Sydney to celebrate the millennium.
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(archaic) Any long (and possibly endless) era of universal happiness, peace, and prosperity, predicted by various people to come about someday.
When rumour got afoot that in future mechanical power would be unlimited, the people expected a millennium.
1930, Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future, London: Methuen & Co., →OCLC:Near-synonym: utopia
For Marx, it is true, the collapse of capitalism and the communist millennium were 'necessary' in a different sense from that in which capitalism had, as he believed, evolved from feudalism. No one, at the time, had set himself the aim of 'establishing' capitalism'.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 372:expecting a millennium
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| millenium | alternative, archaic | lexicographic | |
| millennia | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| millenniums | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
millennial · millennium egg · millennium bug · millennialism · millenniarism · yester-millennium · millionennium · megamillennium · millennially · postmillennium · light millennium · decamillennium · centimillennium
Synonyms
kyr · yearthousand · kiloannum · kiloyear · utopia · chiliad · mul:ka
Translations (114)
id alaf (thousand-year period) · aii ܐܲܠܦܝܘܼܬܵܐ (thousand-year period) · ga mílaoise (thousand-year period) · fo túsundár (thousand-year period) · kmr hezare (thousand-year period) · pt milênio (thousand-year period) · ms milenium (thousand-year period) · de Jahrtausend (thousand-year period) · sh тѝсућљеће (thousand-year period) · az minillik (thousand-year period) · tl libuntaon (year when a period of 1000 years ends and another begins) · la mīllennium (thousand-year period) · sl tisočletje (thousand-year period) · ko 천년 (thousand-year period) · nb tusenår (thousand-year period) · ca mil·lenni (thousand-year period) · fo túsundáraskeið (thousand-year period) · ms alaf (thousand-year period) · da årtusinde (thousand-year period) · ast mileniu (thousand-year period) · pl tysiąclecie (thousand-year period) · ja 千年 (thousand-year period) · uk тисячолі́ття (thousand-year period) · fr millénium (period of universal happiness) · fa-ira هَزارِه (thousand-year period) · fi vuosituhat (thousand-year period) · km សហស្សវត្សរ៍ (thousand-year period) · sh тисућлеће (thousand-year period) · lb Joerdausend (thousand-year period) · kmr hezarsal (thousand-year period) · ja 至福千年 (period of universal happiness) · cy mileniwm (thousand-year period) · lv gadu tūkstotis (thousand-year period) · hi सहस्राब्दी (thousand-year period) · nb millennium (thousand-year period) · es milenio (thousand-year period) · pl milenium (thousand-year period) · lv tūkstošgade (thousand-year period) · gl milenio (thousand-year period) · lo ສະຫະສະວັດ (thousand-year period) · tl libuntaon (thousand-year period) · ml സഹസ്രാബ്ദം (thousand-year period) · sv årtusende (thousand-year period) · sv millennium (thousand-year period) · fy milennium (thousand-year period) · ar أَلْفِيَّة (thousand-year period) · af millennium (thousand-year period) · nl millennium (thousand-year period) · aii ܡܠܹܢܝܘܿܡ (thousand-year period) · ko 밀레니엄 (thousand-year period) · it millennio (thousand-year period) · lad milenio (thousand-year period) · sh tìsućljeće (thousand-year period) · yue 千年 (thousand-year period) · fr millénaire (thousand-year period) · vo milyel (thousand-year period) · lt tūkstantmetis (thousand-year period) · cmn 千年 (thousand-year period) · io yarmilo (thousand-year period) · cs milénium (year when a period of 1000 years ends and another begins) · te సహస్రాబ్ది (thousand-year period) · fi (uuden) vuosituhannen ensimmäinen vuosi (year when a period of 1000 years ends and another begins) · fur mileni (thousand-year period) · bg хилядоле́тие (thousand-year period) · pt milénio (thousand-year period) · fa-ira هِزارِه (thousand-year period) · de Millennium (thousand-year period) · vi thiên niên kỷ (thousand-year period) · ky миңжылдык (thousand-year period) · is árþúsund (thousand-year period) · te వెయ్యేళ్ళు (thousand-year period) · cs tisíciletí (thousand-year period) · sh tisućleće (thousand-year period) · fo ártúsund (thousand-year period) · nn millennium (thousand-year period) · ckb ھەزارە (thousand-year period) · tr binyıl (thousand-year period) · id milenium (thousand-year period) · et millennium (thousand-year period) · fi tuhatvuotinen valtakunta (period of universal happiness) · ko 천년기 (thousand-year period) · ja 千年間 (thousand-year period) · ja ミレニアム (thousand-year period) · my ထောင်စုနှစ် (thousand-year period) · da millennium (thousand-year period) · is þúsöld (thousand-year period) · ro mileniu (thousand-year period) · cmn 千紀 /千纪 (thousand-year period) · el χιλιετία (thousand-year period) · oc millenari (thousand-year period) · br milved (thousand-year period) · sw milenia (thousand-year period) · ja 千年紀 (thousand-year period) · ru тысячеле́тие (thousand-year period) · eo jarmilo (thousand-year period) · ka ათასწლეული (thousand-year period) · sk tisícročie (thousand-year period) · chr ᎠᎦᏴᎵ ᏧᏕᏘᏗ (thousand-year period) · sk milénium (thousand-year period) · he מִילֶניוּם (thousand-year period) · ja 千年期 (thousand-year period) · fa-ira هزارهی سوم (year when a period of 1000 years ends and another begins) · hy հազարամյակ (thousand-year period) · th สหัสวรรษ (thousand-year period) · fa-ira دوران طلایی (period of universal happiness) · nn tusenår (thousand-year period) · hu évezred (thousand-year period) · ja 千年王国 (period of universal happiness) · tr milenyum (thousand-year period) · et aastatuhat (thousand-year period) · be тысячаго́ддзе (thousand-year period) · pms mileni (thousand-year period) · yue 千紀 /千纪 (thousand-year period) · nb årtusen (thousand-year period)