Meanings
millet1
plural millets
- countableuncountableAny of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.
[…] Tobias said, ‘Don't bother. Elena's allergic to all known food groups. The only thing she eats here is seasoned millet and rainwater they bring down from Vermont in a zinc can.’
1991, Douglas Coupland, “Adventure without risk is Disneyland”, in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 155 - countablespecificallyuncountableCommon millet, in particular of species Panicum miliaceum.
millet2
plural millets
- historicalA semi-autonomous confessional community under the Ottoman Empire, especially a non-Muslim one.
The special duties of these millet organizations are to care for the educational and other moral wants of the people […]
1880, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, page 9632 more examples
[…] in support for a common Serbian Orthodox Church, the one traditional institution permitted to exist under the Ottoman millet system which sought to rule subject peoples indirectly through their own religious hierarchies.
2007, Elizabeth Roberts, Realm of the Black Mountain, Hurst & Co, published 2007, page 14Christians and Jews as People of the Book […] were organized into separate communities, or millets, defined by their common practice of the same religion, which was guaranteed as protected as long as it was primarily practised in private.
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 262
Millet3
Origin
millet · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*melh₂-“to grind, crush”
- Latinmilium
- Middle Frenchmillet
- Englishmillet
From late Middle English, borrowed from Middle French millet; from Latin milium, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”), see also Ancient Greek μελίνη (melínē, “millet”) and Lithuanian málnos (“millet”). Not related to مِلَّة (milla).
More words from Middle French, Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →millet · noun
- Arabicمِلَّة
- Ottoman Turkishملت
- Englishmillet
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ملت (millet), from Arabic مِلَّة (milla).
More words from Ottoman Turkish, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κέγχρος, πάσπαλος
- κέγχρος (kénkhros)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- πάσπαλος (páspalos)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Arabic دَخْن, ملَة
- دَخْن (daḵn)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- ملَةcommunity in the Ottoman Empire
- ملcommunity in the Ottoman Empire
- مِلَّة (milla)community in the Ottoman Empire
Basque artatxiki
- artatxikiany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Bulgarian просо́
- просо́ (prosó)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Catalan mill
- millany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Chinese Mandarin 小米
- 小米 (xiǎomǐ)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Czech proso
- prosoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Danish hirse
- hirseany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Dutch gierst
- gierstany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Esperanto milio
- milioany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Finnish hirssi
- hirssiany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
French millet, mil
- milletany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- milany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
German Hirse
- Hirseany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Greek κεχρί
- κεχρί (kechrí)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Hebrew דֹּחַן
- דֹּחַןany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Hindi बाजरा, मिल्लत
- बाजरा (bājrā)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- मिल्लत (millat)community in the Ottoman Empire
Hungarian köles
- kölesany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Icelandic hirsi
- hirsiany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Irish muiléad
- muiléadany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Italian miglio
- miglioany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Japanese 黍
- 黍 (kibi)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Korean 기장
- 기장 (gijang)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Latin milium
- miliumany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Māori mirete
- mireteany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Norwegian hirse
- hirseany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Persian ارزن, الم
- ارزن (arzan)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- الم (alom)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- ملتcommunity in the Ottoman Empire
Polish proso, millet
- prosoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- milletcommunity in the Ottoman Empire
Portuguese milheto, milhete
- milhetoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- milheteany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- painçoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Punjabi ਬਾਜਰਾ
- ਬਾਜਰਾ (bājrā)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Romanian mei
- meiany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Russian про́со, пшено́
- про́со (próso)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- пшено́ (pšenó)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Slovak proso
- prosoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Spanish mijo, panizo
- mijoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- panizoany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- milloany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- boronaany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Swahili mtama
- mtamaany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Swedish hirs
- hirsany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Tagalog dawa
- dawaany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Tamil வரகு
- வரகு (varaku)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Turkish darı, akdarı
- darıany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- akdarıany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- milletcommunity in the Ottoman Empire
Ukrainian про́со, пшоно́
- про́со (próso)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- пшоно́ (pšonó)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Urdu باجرہ, باجرا
- باجرہ (bājrā)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
- باجرا (bājrā)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Vietnamese kê
- kêany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Welsh miled
- miledany of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Yiddish הירזש
- הירזש (hirzh)any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with millet
All rhymes →Cite this entry
millet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/millet
“millet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/millet. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “millet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/millet.
Source: millet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.