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millième

Millième is the French term for the unit fraction one thousandth (1/1000). It also functions as an ordinal form indicating the thousandth item in a sequence, for example le millième élément. In mathematics and measurement contexts, a quantity expressed as a millième represents 0,001 of a given unit, such as un millième de mètre equals 0,001 m.

Etymology: The word derives from mille, thousand, with the suffix -ème used to form ordinal numerals in

Usage: In spoken French, very small fractions are usually expressed using decimal fractions or dedicated unit

Relation to prefixes: The term millième is related to the metric prefix milli-, which designates a factor

See also: milli- prefix, millimeter, millisecond, millilitre.

French.
The
form
has
been
in
use
in
mathematical
and
scientific
vocabulary
since
medieval
times.
names
(millimètre,
milligramme,
milliseconde).
The
phrase
un
millième
de
X
is
correct
and
unambiguous,
but
in
technical
writing
it
is
common
to
prefer
the
precise
unit
name
(for
example,
millimètre
instead
of
millième
de
mètre).
When
referring
to
time,
0,001
s
is
often
called
a
milliseconde
rather
than
a
millième
de
seconde,
though
the
latter
is
understandable.
of
10^-3.
The
prefix
is
widely
used
to
name
subunits
(millimètre,
milligramme,
millisecond),
while
millième
refers
specifically
to
the
one-thousandth
fraction
or
ordinal
position
rather
than
the
prefix
itself.