Myllere

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic form of miller, meaning a person who runs a mill that grinds grain into flour
2. An old spelling for a man whose work is operating a mill to grind corn or grain
3. A medieval term for the worker who tends a grain mill and turns harvested grain into meal

Etymology: Before "miller" was spelled that way, Old English speakers wrote "myllere," a noun built from "mylen," meaning "mill," plus the agent suffix "-ere," which also appears in words like "baker" and "hunter." Someone who worked a mill was simply the one who ran it. The mill itself carries a Roman story. Old English "mylen" came from Proto-Germanic "*mulinō," which was borrowed from the Latin "molina," meaning "mill," a derivative of "molere," "to grind." That same Latin root gave English "molar," from "molaris," the grinding tooth, and "mola," the millstone. Grinding grain and grinding teeth share a single ancient image, and the Germanic peoples likely picked up the mill technology and its name from Roman contact.