millennium

American  

[mi-len-ee-uhm] / mɪˈlɛn i əm /

noun

plural

millenniums, millennia

1. a period of 1,000 years.

   This great stone monument has seen it all—hardship, plenty, and everything in between—over a millennium and a half.

2. the year 2000, or the turn of the 21st century.

   In 1995, approaching the millennium, the city covered nearly 67,000 acres and had a population of over 1 million.

3. Christianity. the millennium, the period of 1,000 years during which Christ will reign on earth, as an interpretation of a vision set forth by the apostle John in the book of Revelation. Also the Millennium

4. a period of general righteousness and happiness, especially in the indefinite future.

5. a thousandth anniversary.

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millennium British  

/ mɪˈlɛnɪəm /

noun

1. Christianity the period of a thousand years of Christ's awaited reign upon earth

2. a period or cycle of one thousand years

3. a time of peace and happiness, esp in the distant future

4. a thousandth anniversary

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millennium Cultural  

1. A period of a thousand years foretold in the Book of Revelation. During the millennium, those who have been faithful to Jesus and who have not worshiped the Antichrist will reign with Jesus over the Earth. According to the Book of Revelation, the millennium will precede the final battle for control of the universe; Judgment Day will come afterward.

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Discover More

Figuratively, a “millennium” is a period of great justice and happiness on Earth.

The meaning of the Bible's (see also Bible) words about the millennium has been much debated by Christians (see also Christian). Prophecies about the millennium are part of the basic doctrine of several denominations, including Jehovah's Witnesses.

Other Word Forms

• millennial adjective
• millennialist noun
• millennially adverb

Etymology

Origin of millennium

First recorded in 1630–40; from New Latin, equivalent to Latin mill(e) “a thousand” + -ennium, extracted from biennium, triennium, etc.

Explanation

A decade means ten years, a century means a hundred, and millennium means a thousand. Think: a decade of marriage, the new millennium. In Latin, in the Romance languages, and in the metric system, mille refers to a thousand. A millimeter is a thousandth of a meter, a milliliter a thousandth of a liter, a millennium is a thousand years. Think of the number "one million" as a thousand thousands, and you'll get the idea.

Example Sentences

The Armed Man was originally commissioned in 1998 by various bodies as a mass to mark the millennium, said Sir Karl, adding that it had been performed "globally" 4,000 times since 2000.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

Shipley heard “Eternal Life” on a burned CD of femme-folk artists that was making the industry rounds at the turn of the millennium while he was putting together his “Wayfaring Strangers” lineup.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

It’s just one of those things that the robots will be chuckling about to themselves for the next millennium.

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2026

Though “The Rules of Attraction” failed to have a broader cultural impact, it became a minor commercial success and a brief staple of early millennium gay culture, achieving the cult status it was destined for.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2026

My other example of how ancient peoples apparently used their ethnobiological knowledge to good effect comes from the Jordan Valley in the ninth millennium B.C., the period of the earliest crop cultivation there.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond