The history of the "mil"

[swertel]

As general office discussions go, this one is always one that I couldn't find the history on.

A mil is 0.001 inch. Why is it called a mil? Is it a millionth of some unit? Is it of Latin or Greek origin?

--Scott

 

[ecampos]

"mil" from what I remember means "A Thousandth" as in 1000 millimeters. I know that english and german engineers working in the states used that term and that is where I heard it first. May be its simply laziness to say thousandth.


Edson Campos
edsoncampos@earthlink.net

 

[swertel]

I agree with your statement that laziness continues its use. But where exactly did the abbreviation originate? MIL and THOU aren't similar enough to just interchange.

I heard from an electrical engineer that it is used as a measure of wire gage. But how has it transitioned to be used with mechanical areas such as coatings? If it is electrical in origin, then what defined a mil that later equalled 0.001 inches?

 

[jimbo]

My Latin/English and my French/English dictionaries both say that "mille" means "thousand". From there you are on your own.

 

[swertel]

Thanks Jimbo,

If you weren't staff I'd red-star you!!

 

[gdodd]

If you gentlemen of American pursuasion joined the rest of the world and became metricated a Mil would just mean a millimeter.

 

[brad]

Swertel--
As stated above, it does mean 'thousandth' (which of course, you already knew). My added info--its entomology is Latin in origin, as are the other units prefices (not 'prefixes'--more of those Catholic school Latin courses kicking in).

Brad

 

[ivymike]

An anecdote: I used to work at a US company where, out of laziness, people referred to the millimeter as a "mil." I was sure confused at first, since I was familiar with mil in the inches sense. For example, when somebody said he wanted to use a 6 mil screw, I'd reel in shock for a second before realizing that he meant a 6 millimeter screw ('cause who ever heard of a screw 0.006" in diameter?).

 

[quattro]

To Ivymike:
How about 0.005" dia drill bits? They are being used everyday by all North American PCB (printed circuit board)manufacturers to drill holes in substrates for multilayered boards. By the way, they call them 5 mil holes.
Efraim