million

Where does the word "million" come from? It comes from Latin mille, passing through Italian and Old French before entering English (1300s).

Million’s story begins in Latin: mille meant “a thousand.” A thousand, combined with an augmentative suffix for a thousand thousands. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Italian as milione. Settled in Italian for the large number, a thousand thousands. From there it passed into Old French as million by medieval. Carried from Italian into French numeric vocabulary. It reached English by 1300s as million. Italian 'milione', 'great thousand'; Marco Polo was nicknamed 'Il Milione'. Today, million means the number one thousand thousand, 1,000,000.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient mille "a thousand", a thousand, combined with an augmentative suffix for a thousand thousands.
2. Stage 2 · Italian · medieval milione "a thousand thousands", settled in Italian for the large number, a thousand thousands.
3. Stage 3 · Old French · medieval million "a thousand thousands", carried from Italian into French numeric vocabulary.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1300s million "one thousand thousand", Italian 'milione', 'great thousand'; Marco Polo was nicknamed 'Il Milione'.