Talk:millennium
Abbreviation[edit]
Abbreviation? -- 88.217.181.199 16:15, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
Singular "millennia"[edit]
I have encountered numerous instances in various TV shows and online where the plural "millennia" is used as a singular noun with the meaning 2000 years, e.g. "the civilization perished a millennia ago". This meaning is not present on Wiktionary, neither for "millennium" nor "millennia". It's also not in OED or Merriam-Webster. The usage seems to be exclusively with the article "a", without articles or with "the" it is meant as the plural of "millennium". Still, I am not sure whether this is just a quirk of several writers or a widely-understood usage, so I'm wary of adding this definition. ― 107.4.82.126 00:16, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
- That sounds like a grammar mistake. The sentence "the civilization perished a millenia ago" doesn't sound like anything a native English speaker would say. Meanwhile, the sentence "the civilization perished millenia ago", without the "a", sounds like valid and normal English, using the regular plural form millenia of the singular noun millenium.
- Are you absolutely sure the writers / speakers are intentionally including "a" before "millenia"? I've noticed that sometimes speakers put in hesitation noises that might sound like "a", but are instead just auditory filler. ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │ Tala við mig 23:57, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
- Nothing to do with English and you can't even spell it: https://www.google.com/search?num=100&tbm=bks&q=%22a+millennia%22+-%22millennia-old%22+-%22millennia-long%22. Lysdexia (talk) 22:28, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
- See usage notes at phenomena, criteria. Some native speakers do mix up these singulars and plurals. Equinox ◑ 06:01, 4 March 2019 (UTC)
- Nothing to do with English and you can't even spell it: https://www.google.com/search?num=100&tbm=bks&q=%22a+millennia%22+-%22millennia-old%22+-%22millennia-long%22. Lysdexia (talk) 22:28, 4 February 2019 (UTC)
Etymology[edit]
OED has mille + -ennium and we could create that "suffix" here, but its entry at centennium (eg) clarifies that the actual formation was not a numerical prefix on a -year base but a substantive suffix on a N-year base: millennis + -ium rather than mille- + -ennium. — LlywelynII 16:43, 4 April 2022 (UTC)