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Meaning & use

milestone

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈmaɪlstəʊn/
US/ˈmaɪlstoʊn/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    An important event or achievement that marks a stage of progress in someone's life or in a project.

    Grammar: Countable; often used with 'reach', 'hit', or 'mark'.

    Patterns

    • reach a milestone
    • a milestone in something
    • a milestone for someone

    Her first day at school was a milestone for the whole family.

    The company reached a major milestone when it signed its thousandth customer.

    The treaty was a milestone in the history of the region.

  2. nouncountableold-fashioned

    A stone beside a road showing the distance in miles to a town.

    Grammar: Countable and literal; mostly found in descriptions of old roads.

    Patterns

    • a milestone beside the road

    An old milestone by the lane showed twelve miles to the city.

    Travelers once checked the milestones to see how far they had come.

    The moss-covered milestone had worn smooth.

Word forms

pluralmilestones

Common combinations

reach a milestone
The team reached a milestone with its hundredth win.
major milestone
Graduation is a major milestone in anyone's life.
mark a milestone
They marked the milestone with a small party.
developmental milestone
First steps are a key developmental milestone for toddlers.
project milestone
Each project milestone has a deadline.

Synonyms and how they differ

landmark
Landmark describes a very significant turning point that changes the field, whereas a milestone may simply mark a stage of progress.
turning point
Turning point means a moment of change in direction, while milestone only marks progress along the same path.
achievement
Achievement stresses the success itself, but milestone stresses its position in a longer journey.
benchmark
A benchmark is a standard used for comparison, not necessarily an event worth celebrating.

Opposites

setback

Word family

mile noun
a unit of distance
stone noun
the rock part of the compound
milestoning noun
setting milestones in project plans, a technical term

Commonly confused: milestone or millstone?

milestone vs millstone

A millstone is a heavy grinding stone, and figuratively a burden, which is the opposite of a milestone's sense of progress.

Practice

Which word would be the opposite in feeling to 'milestone' in 'a milestone for the project'?

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