Translation guide
The English word 'mill' can refer to a grinding machine, a factory, or the act of processing materials. This guide covers the most common Japanese equivalents for each meaning, from everyday words to technical terms.
A machine or tool for grinding solid materials into powder or smaller pieces.
Common loanword for small grinders, especially coffee mills and pepper mills. Used in everyday contexts.
I bought a coffee mill.
このミルは胡椒用です。
This mill is for pepper.
Traditional stone mill for grinding grains, often used for making flour or soybean powder. Evokes a rustic, old-fashioned image.
祖母は挽き臼でそば粉を挽いていました。
My grandmother used to grind buckwheat flour with a stone mill.
Technical term for a crushing or pulverizing machine, used in industrial contexts.
この工場では粉砕機を使って原料を細かくしています。
In this factory, they use a mill to pulverize raw materials.
A building or facility where raw materials are processed, such as a textile mill, steel mill, or paper mill.
General word for factory. Combine with a material to specify the type, e.g., 製鉄工場 (steel mill).
彼は製紙工場で働いています。
He works at a paper mill.
この町には大きな紡績工場があります。
There is a large textile mill in this town.
Often used for smaller or specialized manufacturing plants, like a flour mill or sawmill.
Sometimes used in compound loanwords for specific types of mills, e.g., ペーパーミル (paper mill), but 工場 is more common.
あのペーパーミルは最近閉鎖されました。
That paper mill was recently shut down.
The action of grinding, crushing, or processing materials using a mill.
General verb for grinding grains, coffee, etc. Use with a mill or grinder.
毎朝コーヒー豆を挽いています。
I mill coffee beans every morning.
小麦を挽いて粉にします。
Mill wheat into flour.
Specifically means 'to mill into flour'. More formal or industrial than 挽く.
その工場では小麦を製粉しています。
The factory mills wheat.
Technical term for pulverizing or crushing, used in industrial or scientific contexts.
原料を粉砕して微粉末にします。
Mill the raw materials into fine powder.
Describes a crowd or group moving around restlessly or chaotically.
Verb meaning to swarm or crowd around. Often used for people or animals gathering in a disorderly way.
観客が会場の周りに群がっていた。
The crowd was milling around the venue.
To loiter or hang around restlessly. Captures the aimless movement aspect of 'milling about'.
人々が広場でうろうろしていた。
People were milling about in the square.
Idiom meaning to rush about in confusion. Stronger than 'milling', implies panic or disorder.
避難民が右往左往していた。
The evacuees were milling about in confusion.
While ミル can be used for certain factories (e.g., ペーパーミル), 工場 is the standard word for any factory. Use 工場 with a prefix like 製紙 (paper-making) or 製鉄 (steel-making) for clarity.
The English idiom 'mill around' does not translate directly to Japanese using ミル. Use verbs like 群がる or うろうろする instead.
その製粉製作所は24時間稼働しています。
The flour mill operates 24 hours a day.