χίλιοι (Ancient Greek)
Where does "χίλιοι" come from?
The Ancient Greek word 'χίλιοι' (thousand) traces its origins back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*ǵʰes-,' meaning 'hand.' It likely evolved with the figurative sense of a 'full hand,' eventually passing through Proto-Hellenic before reaching its Greek form. This ancient numerical concept shares a distant etymological connection with other words for thousand, such as the Sanskrit 'sahásra' and Latin 'mīlle.'
Full etymology tree
- χίλιοι (khílioi) (Ancient Greek), 'thousand'
- inherited *kʰehliyoi (Proto-Hellenic), 'thousand'
- inherited *ǵʰesliyoy (Proto-Indo-European)
- compound *ǵʰes- (Proto-Indo-European), 'hand'
- compound *-lom (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *ǵʰesliyoy (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʰehliyoi (Proto-Hellenic), 'thousand'
Ancestors
- *kʰehliyoi (Proto-Hellenic)
- *ǵʰéslom (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- mille (Latin)
- सहस्र (Sanskrit)
Descendants and derived words
- хиляда (Bulgarian)
- хиляда (Bulgarian)
- chiliad (English)
- χίλια (Greek)
- χίλια (Greek)
Updated June 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris