MIL-DOT Scopes - Think You Know What MIL Stands For?

I am into guns and shooting, more so pistols and shotguns than rifles. I shoot rifles a  lot too but am certainly not into all of the nomenclature and other technical stuff about them. I have a lot to learn and my guess is that many others out there also have a lot to learn. I learned something new today, I learned exactly for what the abbreviation MIL stands for in MIL-DOT when referring to an optical rifle scope. Do you know what it means?

I don't think it was ever any big secret but I can tell you that an awful lot of people have gotten it wrong when telling me the meaning of Mil in Mil-Dot. Those folks have included other average shooters like me, long range marksman, high-power shooters, military types, SWAT type members, firearms instructors, gun dealers, and people I have met at ranges who had a Mil-Dot scope on their rifle.  If you, like me, and the folks I just mentioned, thought it was an abbreviation for 'military', then you ought to visit the page at this link and enjoy a short but meaningful read about two terms: Minute of Angle and Mil. You might learn something new, I did. In fact, I learned two things, the meaning of Mil - and that while I knew what Minute of Angle meant, I probably could never explain it properly without notes in front of me.

All the best,
Glenn B