Mil or mill?
mil is a noun meaning “An angular mil, a unit of angular measurement equal to ¹⁄₆₄₀₀ of a complete…”; mill is a noun meaning “A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small…”. They sound the same (/mɪl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) mill is about 4.4 times as common as mil.
What is the difference between mil and mill?
| mil | mill | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective | noun, verb |
| Meaning | An angular mil, a unit of angular measurement equal to ¹⁄₆₄₀₀ of a complete circle. At 1000 metres one mil subtends about one metre (0.98 m). Also ¹⁄₆₀₀₀ and… A unit of measurement equal to ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of an inch (25.4 µm), usually used for thin objects, such as sheets of plastic | A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.) The building housing such a grinding apparatus; also, any similar building that houses a similarly material activity (such as weaving, fulling, dying, etc.)… To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine |
| Example | For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mils thick | Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill |
| Forms | mils | mills |
| Pronunciation | /mɪl/ | /mɪl/ [mɪɫ] [mɪo̯] |
| In writing | 5.5 times per million words | 24 times per million words |
Sources: mil and mill in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of mil and mill
mil
- 1
Abbreviation of military
- 2
An angular mil, a unit of angular measurement equal to ¹⁄₆₄₀₀ of a complete circle. At 1000 metres one mil subtends about one metre (0.98 m). Also ¹⁄₆₀₀₀ and ¹⁄₆₃₀₀ are used in other countries
- 3
informalClipping of million
Word has it that they were offered a cool ten mil to sell their farm to the land developers
- 4
Clipping of military
- 5
Initialism of mother-in-law
- 6
Alternative spelling of mil
- 7
A unit of measurement equal to ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of an inch (25.4 µm), usually used for thin objects, such as sheets of plastic
For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mils thick
- 8
Initialism of malfunction indicator lamp
mill
- 1
A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.)
Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill
- 2
To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine
to mill flour
- 3
One thousandth of a US dollar, one-hundredth of a dime or one-tenth of a cent
Holonyms: cent < dollar
- 4
informalAlternative form of mil (“million”)
- 5
A line of three matching pieces in nine men's morris and related games
- 6
To move (a card) from a deck to the discard pile
- 7
Discarding a card from one's deck
- 8
The building housing such a grinding apparatus; also, any similar building that houses a similarly material activity (such as weaving, fulling, dying, etc.); the place of business comprising such a…
My great-grandfather worked in a mill. He filled the flour sacks and then carried and loaded them
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, mil or mill?
mil appears 5.5 times per million words; mill 24 times per million words.
mil 5.5 times per million wordsmill 24 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search mil vs mill?
“mil vs mill” is searched about 20 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“mill vs mil”, “mil or mill”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.