"dam to check the flow of a stream and create a fall to furnish power for turning a mill-wheel," 12c., mulnedam; see mill (n.1) + dam (n.).

"ordinary, unspectacular," 1922, a figurative use of a commercial phrase attested by 1909 in reference to material yielded by a mill (n.1), etc., before sorting for quality (compare common run "usual, ordinary type," from 1712). From run (n.) on the notion of "a continuous stretch of grinding."

"engineer who designs and builds mills and their machinery," late 15c., from mill (n.1) + wright.

also mill-work, "machinery used in mills or manufacturies," 1770, from mill (n.1) + work (n.).

mid-15c., "act or business of grinding (grain) in a mill," verbal noun from mill (v.1). In reference to shaping metals by 1610s; in coin-making by 1817.

"rate of (real estate) taxation in mills per dollar of assessed value," 1871, U.S., from mill (n.2) + -age.

"a mill-race, a current of water that drives a mill-wheel," Old English mylestream; see mill (n.1) + stream (n.).

"mill (originally driven by water or wind) for sawing timber into boards and planks," 1550s; see saw (n.1) + mill (n.1).

"one who grinds grain in a mill," mid-14c. (as a surname by early 14c.), agent noun from mill (v.1). In Middle English both with and without the -n-. The Old English word was mylnweard, literally "mill-keeper" (preserved in surname Millward, which is attested from late 13c.).

"one of a pair of cylindrical stones used in a mill for grinding grain," Middle English millestone, milne-ston, mullestone, from Old English mylenstan, from mill (n.1) + stone (n.). Compare Dutch molensteen, German Mühlstein, Danish møllesten. Figurative sense of "a burden" (1787) is from Matthew xviii.6.