Milesian
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 a native or inhabitant of the ancient city of Miletus in Asia Minor. historical
- 2 A member of a people in Irish mythology, the descendants of Míl Espáine.
- 3 a follower of the Milesian school of philosophy founded by Thales
- 4 An Irishman; someone of Irish origin. dated, humorous, sometimes
- 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[…]."
- 2 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 […] ."
Example
More examples"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[…]."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "milesian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.