Mignonette. Expresses the diminutive of Mignon, the French for “darling.”
Mildmay Park. The estate of the Mildmays, whose ancestor, Sir Henry Mildmay, came, by marriage, into possession of Mildmay House and its park in the time of Charles I.
Mile End Gate. From a toll gate which at this point of the highroad marked the eastern limits of London town and the parish of Whitechapel, distant one mile from the city boundary at Aldgate.
Miles Lane. After Miles Coverdale, a famous preacher at the Weigh-House Chapel hard by in former days.
Milford Lane. From an old mill that stood here in the fields. The lane itself led to a ford across the river at low water.
Milking the Street. An Americanism for the operations of stockbrokers who, by alternately raising and depressing shares, capture all the floating money in the market. The allusion is, of course, to Wall Street, the financial centre of New York city.
Milk Street. The ancient milk and butter market in connection with Cheapside.
Millbank. From an old mill that stood on the Thames bank, on the site of which the Grosvenors built a mansion, subsequently displaced for the gloomy prison of the same name.
Millerites. An American religious sect, whose founder, William Miller, prophesied the millennium or first judgment of the world by Christ and His angels to take place on 23rd February 1843. Many of his followers went mad through excitement as this date approached. Subsequent days assigned for the fulfilment of the prophesy proved alike misleading.
Milliner. A corruption of Milaner, after the city of Milan, which at one time set the fashion throughout Europe for elegance and taste not only in matters of dress, but of art. A milliner is one who deals in hats, feathers, and ribbons. See “[Mercer].”