Millennium
noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A period of time consisting of one thousand years. countable
"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."
- 2 a span of 1000 years wordnet
- 3 The period of one thousand years during which Christ will reign on earth (according to Millenarianist interpretations).
"usher in the millennium"
- 4 the 1000th anniversary (or the celebration of it) wordnet
- 5 A long era of universal happiness, peace, and prosperity. archaic
"Near-synonym: utopia"
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- 6 (New Testament) in the Book of Revelation it is foretold that those faithful to Jesus will reign with Jesus over the earth for a thousand years; the meaning of these words have been much debated; some denominations (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses) expect it to be a thousand years of justice and peace and happiness wordnet
- 7 The year in which one period of one thousand years ends and another begins, especially the year 2000. with-definite-article
"A huge fireworks display was put on in Sydney to celebrate the millennium."
Example
More examples"The resolution made at the Millennium - to give all remaining dancing bears in the European Union the chance of a species-appropriate life in one place - has become a reality in 2007 with the transfer of the last three Bulgarian dancing bears."
Etymology
From Late Latin mīllennium, from Latin mīllennis (“1000-year”) + -ium (forming abstract nouns).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.