Milestone
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A stone milepost (or by extension in other materials), one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road at regular intervals, typically at the side of the road or in a median.
- 2 stone post at side of a road to show distances wordnet
- 3 An important event in a person's life or career, in the history of a nation, in the life of some project, etc. idiomatic
"Death is another milestone on their way."
- 4 a significant event in your life (or in a project) wordnet
- 1 To place milestones along (a road, etc.).
- 2 To plan out a project as a series of major steps. idiomatic
Example
More examples"That day was an important milestone in our project."
Etymology
From mile + stone. Compare Dutch mijlsteen (“milestone”), German Low German Mielensteen (“milestone”), German Meilenstein (“milestone”), Swedish milsten (“milestone”).
Related phrases
More for "milestone"
Editorial Guides For "milestone"
Professional Email Tone: Sound Clear, Polite, and Decisive
Practical phrase swaps to improve clarity and reduce friction in workplace emails.
De-escalation Language for Difficult Conversations
Use wording that lowers tension while preserving boundaries and forward progress.
Brand Voice Consistency: Keep Tone Unified Across Pages
Practical framework to keep product, marketing, and support copy aligned.
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.