Re: [tied] Seeking Information Please

On Sat, 31 Aug 2002 22:01:51 +0200, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:

><eques> (equit-) and <mi:les> (mi:lit-) are the Latin military terms for 'cavalryman'
>and 'infantryman'. The equites ('knights') were of course a social order as well,
>but the military meaning is more basic than the political one, and the word is of
>course derived from <equus> 'horse'. I don't know where the <mi:l-> root of <mi:lit->
>comes from. There is no obvious Latin or IE base (any guesses, List?), and it's hard
>to tell if the word comes from Etruscan, as sometimes claimed.

My Latin dictionary connects mi:le(s)s (as mi:l-it- "going in a crowd", cf.
ped-it- "going by foot", equ-it- "going by horse") with Grk. hómi:los (Aeol.
ómillos) "crowd", which in Boissacq is further linked to Skt. miláti "to come
together, meet, gather", me:las "meeting, relationship". PIE *h3mei- + -l- ?


=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...