- miter (1)
- "bishop's tall hat," c.1380, from O.Fr. mitre, from L. mitra, from Gk. mitra "headband, turban," earlier a piece of armor worn about the waist, from PIE base *mei- "to tie" (cf. Skt. Mitrah, O.Pers. Mithra-, god names; Rus. mir "world, peace," Gk. mitos "a warp thread"). In L., "a kind of headdress common among Asiatics, the wearing of which by men was regarded in Rome as a mark of effeminacy" [OED]. But the word was used in Vulgate to translate Heb. micnepheth "headdress of a priest."
- miter (2)
- in the carpentry sense of "joint at a 45 degree angle," 1678, is perhaps from miter (1), via notion of joining of the two peaks of the folded cap.