From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Millennium \Mil*len"ni*um\ (m[i^]l*l[e^]n"n[i^]*[u^]m), n. [LL.,
fr. L. mille a thousand + annus a year. See {Mile}, and
{Annual}.]
1. A period of one thousand years.
[1913 Webster]
2. Specifically: The period of a thousand years mentioned in
the twentieth chapter of Revelation, during which holiness
is to be triumphant throughout the world. Some believe
that, during this period, Christ will reign on earth in
person with his saints.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hence: A long period of happiness, righteousness, and
prosperity, usually considered as being in the indefinite
future.
[PJC]
4. A thousandth anniversary; especially, Each first day of
January falling in a year which is a multiple of one
thousand, such as in 1000 a. d. or 2000 a. d.; as, the
second millenium will be celebrated on January 1, 2000;
also used attributively, as a millenium celebration.
Note: Technically, if the calendar of the Common Era (Anno
Domini) is considered as beginning on January 1, 1 a.
d., then the millenium will fall in each year ending in
001, as in 1001 a. d. or January 1, 2001 a. d.. However
in the common culture, the change of the first digit of
the year from 1 to 2, as from 1999 to 2000 is
considered as the more symbolic event, especially since
the dating of the beginning of the Christian era is
somewhat arbitrary, having been an attempt to fix the
date of the birth of Christ, and being considered by
scholars as being in error by as much as five years.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
millennium
n 1: a span of 1000 years [syn: {millennium}, {millenary}]
2: (New Testament) in Revelations it is foretold that those
faithful to Jesus will reign with Jesus over the earth for a
thousand years; the meaning of these words have been much
debated; some denominations (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses) expect
it to be a thousand years of justice and peace and happiness
3: the 1000th anniversary (or the celebration of it) [syn:
{millennium}, {millenary}]
From Dutch-English Freedict Dictionary ver. 0.1.3 [fd-nld-eng]:
millennium /milɛnijɵm/
1. millenium
2. millennium
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