Word.ws English Dictionary

Milesian

UK/mʌɪˈliːzɪən/

Milesian noun: a native or inhabitant of the ancient city of Miletus in Asia Minor.

Noun (1)

Milesian (plural Milesians)

  1. (historical) a native or inhabitant of the ancient city of Miletus in Asia Minor.
  2. a follower of the Milesian school of philosophy founded by Thales

Adjective (1)

Milesian (comparative more Milesian, superlative most Milesian)

  1. Pertaining to Miletus or its inhabitants.
    • I commend the Milesian wench, who seeing Thales the Philosopher continually ammusing himselfe in the contemplation of heavens-wide-bounding vault, and ever holding his eyes aloft, laid something in his way to make him stumble[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

Adjective (2)

Milesian (comparative more Milesian, superlative most Milesian)

  1. Pertaining to Milesius or his people; Irish.
    • My father was the youngest son of a numerous family, all Irish, sprung from a very ancient and honourable stock, being of Milesian descent […] .1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 1
    • […] exultingly cried Lord Carhampton, stealing an underlook at Maurice O'Driscoll, whom ^([sic]) he knew was wont to boast of his Milesian lineage; […]1884, M. L. O'Byrne, Ill-won Peerages, Or, An Unhallowed Union, page 427

Noun (2)

Milesian (plural Milesians)

  1. A member of a people in Irish mythology, the descendants of Míl Espáine.
  2. (dated, humorous, sometimes) An Irishman; someone of Irish origin.

Forms of Milesian

Noun
pluralMilesians
Adjective
comparativemore Milesian
superlativemost Milesian

Origin of Milesian

Borrowed from Middle French Milesien, and its source Latin Mīlēsius, from Ancient Greek Μιλήσιος (Milḗsios).

From Latin Milesius, Latinised form of Míl Espáine, a legendary Spanish king whose sons were reputed to have conquered Ireland around 1300 BC.

Words formed from Milesian

Phrases with Milesian

Questions about Milesian

What does Milesian mean?
Milesian means a native or inhabitant of the ancient city of Miletus in Asia Minor.
What part of speech is Milesian?
Milesian can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce Milesian?
Milesian is pronounced /mʌɪˈliːzɪən/ (UK).
What is the plural of Milesian?
The plural of Milesian is Milesians.

Words near Milesian in the dictionary

  1. Miles Cove
  2. miles gloriosus
  3. miles of bad road
  4. Miles Platting
  5. Miles' law
  6. Milesian
  7. Milesian tale
  8. Milesian tales
  9. Milesians
  10. milesima
  11. milesimas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Milesian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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