Stephen Howarth

Monday 15 November 1999 00:02 GMT

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Sir: If only 14 per cent of the nation can spell "millennium", it only reflects the sad decline in classical education. Anyone who has been taught Latin - even those who found it an endurance test - has an idea of the roots of modern words, and therefore of their spelling.

"Millennium" is of course a conflation derived from mille (a thousand) and annus (year), and so has two "n"s. "Millenium" with one "n" would be a conflation of mille and anus, and would mean something completely different. Actually "a thousand rings", and not whatever you might have supposed.

STEPHEN HOWARTH

Shelton, Nottinghamshire

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