Emily Dickinson Lexicon

Miles, proper n. [poss. L. soldier nickname for Michael.]

Miles Standish (1584-1656); suitor in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish; man who sent John Alden as a proxy to do his courting; [fig.] God the Father; [see ED's letters.]

militant, adj. [Fr. < L. militare, to serve as a soldier.] (webplay: heaven, warfare).

Stiff; brisk; crisp; snappy; [fig.] orderly.

milking, verbal n. [OE.]

Collecting cow milk; drawing milk from the breasts of animals by hand.

mill (-s), n. [Fr. moulin < L. molinum.] (webplay: carrying, house, means, particles, slitting, wheels, wind).

1. Water-wheel; large wooden wheel through which river currents pass to make energy for industrial purposes.
2. Grindstone apparatus; mechanism that presses kernels into meal; building with a water-powered machine for processing grain into flour.
3. Windmill; building having a generator that runs on air currents; wind-powered factory for processing grain, textiles, or other products.
4. Roller machine; set of revolving wheels.
5. Factory; manufacturing place.
6. Current; channel for water.

mill, v. [see mill, n.]

Grind corn into meal; [phrase: “went to mill”] went to the mill; went to have the corn processed at the grain mill.

miller, n. [see mill, n.]

Grain processor; one who grinds corn, wheat, or other grains; person who owns a mill powered by water from a river.

milliner (-'s), n. [It. 'native inhabitant of Milan'.]

Hatmaker; one who designs, makes, trims, or sells women's hats.

millinery, n. [see milliner, n.] (webplay: head, one).

1. Bonnet; head-covering; soft round hat; [fig.] ball of seedlings.
2. Formation; business; work; [fig.] sky overhead; heavens above.

million, adj. [MFr.]

Countless; a very great number of; numbering a thousand thousands of.

millionaire, n. [Fr.]

One whose wealth is estimated in millions.