milli-
(ˈmɪlɪ)
combining form of L. mille thousand, used esp. in the metric system of weights and measures to denote the thousandth part of the unit, as milliare (1/1000 of an are), milli-barn [barn n. 1 d], milli-calorie (or milli-calory), milli-curie, milli-gal [gal2], milli-henry [henry3], milli-joule, milli-kayser, milli-kelvin, milli-lambert, milli-micron, milli-mol(e [mole n.7] (hence milli-molar adj.), milli-poise [poise n.2], milli-rad, milli-radian, milli-rem, milli-roentgen, milli-watt; also combined with micro- to denote division by a thousand million (corresponding to the single prefix nano-), as in millimicroampere, -mole, -second. ˈmillidegree, a thousandth of a degree centigrade (kelvin); ˌmillieˈquivalent, one thousandth of a gramme-equivalent; milliosmol, -mole (mɪlɪˈɒzmɒl, -məʊl) [f. blend of osmotic a. and mole n.7], an amount of any osmotically effective ion in solution equal to a milligramme divided by the atomic weight of the ion; hence milliosˈmolar a.
| [1816 P. Kelly Metrology 17 The word Milli expresses the 1000th part.] |
| 1955 Physical Rev. XCVII. 88 The cross section..has been calculated to be approximately 35 millibarns. 1958 O. R. Frisch Nucl. Handbk. i. 12 Nuclear cross sections are usually expressed in barns or millibarns. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Millicalory. 1937 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIX. 543 The cooling power of the atmosphere at 2.0 p.m...averages 6·7 millicalories per square centimetre per second. 1953 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Nov. 280 The heat intensity required to produce pain was measured with a radiometer..the threshold being expressed in millicalories per second per square centimetre. |
| 1910 E. Rutherford in Nature 6 Oct. 430/2 This matter was left for the consideration of the standards committee; the latter suggested that the name Curie should be used as a new unit to express the quantity or mass of radium emanation in equilibrium with one gram of radium (element). For example, the amount of emanation in equilibrium with one milligram of radium would be called 1/1000 Curie or one millicurie. 1947 Sci. News IV. 126 One millicurie of radium expels thirty million alpha particles per second. 1963 Millicurie [see curie 1]. |
| 1951 Jrnl. Chem. Physics XIX. 1161/1 The Curie temperatures are of the order of tens of millidegrees. 1974 Physics Bull. Mar. 93/2 The lighter isotope, 3He, had until recently shown no anomalous behaviour even when cooled to temperatures of a few millidegrees. |
| 1929 C. J. Engelder Textbk. Elem. Quantitative Analysis vii. 139 There is a gram-milliequivalent weight in 1 cc. of a normal solution. 1946 Nature 19 Oct. 556/2 The mean value for agouti mice is 121 milliequivalents per litre, and for black 124·5. 1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) i. 37 The computer prints out in milli-equivalents per litre all the major constituents of the plasma, cells and alveolar gases. |
| 1914 Milligal [see gal2]. 1934 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIII. 446 The Bouguer anomalies are small on the coast and decrease steadily westward to about -150 milligals in Shansi. 1969 New Scientist 10 July 88/2 The gal is..a unit of one cm per second per second and a milligal thus approximately one millionth of the normal gravity of the Earth. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Millihenry. 1922 Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 421/1 All the coils are used in series for the higher range (9 to 105 millihenries), but only portions of each in series for the lower range (0·7 to 12 millihenries). 1950 Engineering 7 Apr. 398/3 In the rectifier positive lead, a 10-millihenry air⁓core reactor is connected. |
| 1972 Physics Bull. Apr. 205/1 Methane-air can be reliably ignited by a spark discharge of only about one millijoule. |
| 1968 Chem. Abstr. LXVIII. 4308/2 The Lamb shifts of the 4S and 3S levels of the 11..are, resp., 60 {pm} 4 millikaysers and 138·5 {pm} 1·6 millikaysers. 1970 G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. i. 2 The term values Ti are written as positive numbers in units of cm-1, recently re-named the Kayser (K). The new name is more commonly found when the sub-unit milli-Kayser is used; 1 mK = 10-3 cm-1. |
| 1972 Physics Bull. Feb. 85/3 Philips shows very thin metal foils between 2 and 10 µm thick being used to solve heat exchange problems at very low temperatures, a few millikelvin. |
| 1918 Webster Add., Milli-lambert. 1920 E. N. Harvey Nature Animal Light iii. 64 The brightness of a surface is measured in lamberts or millilamberts... A millilambert is 1/1000 lambert. 1970 Nature 24 Jan. 347/2 Each pattern subtended 7° at the eye, and was projected..at an average screen illuminance of 3 millilamberts. |
| 1960 Cambr. Rev. 8 Oct. 21/2 The techniques developed for handling and measuring the amounts of steroids of only a few millimicromoles likely to be present in experimental samples have made steroid chromatography a leading branch of microanalysis. |
| 1904 C. Hering Ready Reference Tables I. 31, 1 milli-micron (spectroscopy) or micro-millimeter (microscopy) = 10 Angstroem units. 1966 C. R. & T. S. Leeson Histol. ii. 22/2 One millimicron is one thousandth of a micron, i.e., 10 Å. |
| 1956 Proc. CERN Symposium II. 69 (heading) Recent advances in millimicrosecond counting techniques. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers viii. 127 Switching speeds of a few millimicroseconds appear possible. |
| 1934 Webster, Millimolar. 1941 Jrnl. Physiol. C. 61 The value of η represents the total indiffusible substance (as millimols), and of ε the difference between the total negative and positive charges on the indiffusible molecules (expressed as milliequivalents or valencies multiplied by the millimolar concentration). 1972 Nature 10 Mar. 57/3 Using lower than customary magnesium concentrations (in the region of millimolar), Allet finds that lithium and caesium chloride produce similar results. |
| 1904 C. Hering Ready Reference Tables I. 60, 1 millimol = 0·001 mol or gram molecule. 1934 Biochem. Jrnl. XXVIII. 285 If we consider the titration of 1 ml. of N/10 acid delivered for example from a 1 ml. simple pyrex pipette..the co-efficient of variation in millimols of KOH is 25 × 10-5. 1937 Pierce & Haenisch Quantitative Analysis vi. 83 The choice of unit, millimole or mole, milliequivalent or equivalent, depends upon the unit of volume chosen. 1954 [see isohydric a. b]. 1970 R. W. McGilvery Biochem. xxv. 614 It requires 2·3 millimoles of H + to react with the hemoglobin in a liter of blood before the pH can change by 0·1 unit. |
| 1939 J. L. Gamble Chem. Anat., Physiol. & Path. Extracellular Fluid Notes to chart 2 The term milliosmol is used to distinguish ionic from molecular concentration. The osmolal value of a solution of Na + Cl, for instance, is double the molal value. 1942 Ibid. (4th printing), The milliosmolar and milliequivalence values for the univalent ions are obviously identical. The chemical equivalence of the divalent ions is twice their milliosmolar value. The term milliosmolar is used instead of millimolar to make clear the additive osmotic effect of individual ions. 1959 Pediatric Clinics N. Amer. VI. 272 The nephritic patient who is unable to concentrate urine..will need a water allowance..of approximately 3 ml. per milliosmol of total urinary solute. 1963 Lancet 12 Jan. 77/1 The last twelve patients admitted to this hospital with diabetic acidosis have had a calculated serum osmolarity greater than 300 milliosmoles per litre. 1972 Science 19 May 815/3 Severely disabled chicks..had plasma osmolality values (in milliosmoles per kilogram) of 335 {pm} 10 as compared with 309 {pm} 7 for controls. |
| 1934 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LVI. 998/2 We find the freezing point of our maximum density water to be 3·82°, and the viscosity at 20°, 12·6 millipoises. |
| 1954 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. XXVII. 247/1 The value is 30 millirad per week. 1973 Times 31 July 5/4 He said a total dose of 0·1 of a millirad—one-third of the normal background radioactive level—had been recorded during the 21 hours following the blast. |
| 1956 Spaceflight I. 28/1 Despite errors caused by ionospheric refraction of the signal, the use of data from a number of stations will, it is claimed, enable the satellite's position to be established to within a fraction of a milliradian. 1971 Sci. Amer. June 65/1 A similar analysis of the collision kinematics indicates that the resolution in angle should be a fraction of a milliradian, which is about three minutes of arc. |
| 1954 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. XXVII. 246/1 Basic permissible weekly doses for the critical organs. Whole body exposure{ddd}0·3 millirems per week in blood-forming organs, the gonads and the eyes. 1971 Sci. Amer. Aug. 115/2 The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission requires that personnel working with radiation materials receive not more than 100 millirems of radiation per 40-hour week. |
| 1955 Sci. News Let. 20 Aug. 116/1 A milliroentgen is one-thousandth the unit of quantity of X-rays. 1963 B. Fozard Instrumentation Nucl. Reactors i. 3 It is..often necessary to measure dose rate; a convenient practical unit for this quantity is the milliroentgen per hour (mr/h). |
| 1929 Papers Inst. Post Office Electr. Engin. cxxix. 22 It is..sent to line at the power of 1 milli-watt. 1956 Nature 25 Feb. 392/1 This feature of existing methods [for the measurement of power] is particularly evident at low power-levels, of the order of 1 milliwatt, at wave-lengths of 3 cm. and less. |
______________________________
Add:
millidarwin (*
Darwin n. 2).
| 1949 J. B. S. Haldane in Evolution III. 55/2 It may be found desirable to coin some word, for example a darwin, for a unit of evolutionary rate, such as an increase or decrease of size by a factor of e per million years, or, what is practically equivalent, an increase or decrease of 1/1000 per 1000 years. If so the horse rates would range round 40 *millidarwins. 1987 Paleobiol. XIII. 138/1 Previous studies have reported relatively high rates of evolution for marine invertebrates..but these studies have focused..on changes in body size. Our results indicate that shape experiences much greater evolutionary stability (modal ‘rate’ in the order of 10 millidarwins for any interval of 1 ma or more). |