† ˈmileway Obs.
[f. mile n.1 + way.]
1. The space of time in which a mile may be travelled on foot; a period of twenty minutes. Hence Astr., a third of an hour of angular measurement.
| 13.. Evang. Nicod. 704 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LIII. 404 Þe sonne at his ded wex all wan wele thre myle way or mare. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1578 Alle þe surgens of salerne so sone ne coþen Haue lesed his langour and his liif saued, As þe maide meliors in a mile wei dede. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 276, I shal nat faille surely of my day, Nat for a thousand frankes, a myle-way. c 1391 ― Astrol. i. §16 As I have said, 5 of thise degrees maken a mile-wey, and 3 mile-wey maken an houre. |
2. A distance of one mile.
| 13.. K. Alis. 3487 He swam in thilke hevy armes; A mile waie with strengthe of armes. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 131 On Maluerne hulles, Musyng on þis Meeteles A myle wei Ich ȝeode. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 572 Thus thai mellit on mold, ane myle way and maire. 1530 Palsgr. 862/1 Over a myle way, oultre vne mile. |
3. A name applied to certain roads in the neighbourhood of Oxford. Also attrib.
| 1771 Act 11 Geo. III, c. 19 (title) An Act for amending certain of the Mile-Ways leading to Oxford. Ibid., Whereas such of the several Roads near the University and City of Oxford usually called the Mile-Ways, as are not Part of any Turnpike Road, are in a very bad State [etc.]. 1798 in Mrs. B. Stapleton Three Oxford Parishes (O.H.S.) 164 Paid Scroggs, surveyor, the Mileway money, {pstlg}7 0 0. |