Dictionary Definition
Miller
Noun
1 United States bandleader of a popular big band
(1909-1944) [syn: Glenn
Miller, Alton
Glenn Miller]
2 United States novelist whose novels were
originally banned as pornographic (1891-1980) [syn: Henry
Miller, Henry
Valentine Miller]
3 United States playwright (born 1915) [syn:
Arthur
Miller]
4 someone who works in a mill (especially a grain
mill)
5 machine tool in which metal that is secured to
a carriage is fed against rotating cutters that shape it [syn:
milling
machine]
6 any of various moths that have powdery wings
[syn: moth
miller]
User Contributed Dictionary
see Miller
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪlə(r)
Etymology
From mill.Noun
Translations
person
machine
- Finnish: mylly
moth
Clitopilus prunulus
- Finnish: jauhosieni
Extensive Definition
- For other uses, see: Miller (disambiguation)
A miller usually refers to a person who operates
a mill, a machine to grind
a cereal
crop to make flour.
Milling is among
the oldest of human occupations.
"Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are
their equivalents in other languages around the world. Milling
existed in hunter
gatherer communities, and later millers were important to the
development
of agriculture.
The materials ground by millers are often
foodstuffs and
particularly grain. The
physical grinding of the food allows for the easier digestion of
its nutrients and saves wear on the teeth.
Non-food substances needed in a fine, powdered
form, such as building
materials, may be processed by a miller. The most basic tool
for a miller was the quern-stone -
simply a large, fixed stone as a base and another movable stone
operated by hand, similar to a mortar
and pestle. As technology and millstones (the bedstone and rynd) improved, more elaborate
machines such as watermills and windmills were developed to do
the grinding work. These mills harnessed available energy
sources including animal, water, wind and electrical power. Mills
are some of the oldest
factories in human history, so factories making other items are
sometimes known as mills, for example, cotton mills
and steel
mills. These factory workers are also called millers.
The rynd
in pre-reformation
Scotland was often carved on millers' gravestones as a symbol
of their trade.
miller in German: Müller
miller in Dutch: Molenaar
miller in Norwegian Nynorsk: Møllar
miller in Portuguese: Moleiro
miller in Finnish:
Mylläri