Daily Ancestormiles
Miles is Latin for a soldier; in medieval documents it can also mean a knight, so read it in the context of the record's period.
Miles means soldier. In medieval Latin the same word was used for a knight, a mounted man of rank, so in older charters it can point to a much higher social position than in a later parish register.
In later parish registers miles simply means a soldier. If the entry also names a regiment, that is your lead to military records.
As seen in a recordLatin marriage register, garrison town, 1800s
Copulatus est Josephus Klein, miles regiminis peditum, cum Rosalia Weiss
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Daily Ancestor. "miles." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/miles. Last checked 2026-10-10.