From Latin 'mille passuum' (thousand paces) — the Roman military mile, fixed at 5,280 feet by Parliament in 1593.
A unit of distance equal to 5,280 feet (1,760 yards), approximately 1.609 kilometers.
From Latin mīlle passuum (a thousand paces), the standard Roman unit of distance, typically shortened in use to mīlia or mīlle. A Roman passus (pace) was a double step — left foot striking to left foot striking — measuring approximately five Roman feet, making the Roman mile (mīlle passuum) about 4,856 modern feet. Old English borrowed the unit as mīl directly from Latin during or after the Roman occupation of Britain, one
The Roman mile was about 4,856 feet — shorter than today's 5,280-foot statute mile. The modern length was fixed in 1593 when Parliament decided the mile should equal exactly 8 furlongs (each 660 feet), a concession to English farming measurements. So the 'thousand paces' mile quietly grew by about 400 feet to make arithmetic with fields easier.