Miller
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2008-06-30T19:15:32Z
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Interwiki: Adding: [[he:טוחן]]
[[Image:Monselice z21.JPG|thumb|200px|right|A man dressed as a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] miller at a festival in [[Monselice]].]]
:''For other uses, see: [[Miller (disambiguation)]]''
A '''miller''' usually refers to a person who operates a [[Gristmill|mill]], a machine to grind a [[cereal crop]] to make [[flour]].
[[Milling]] is among the oldest of human [[List of occupations|occupation]]s. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world. Milling existed in [[hunter gatherer]] communities, and later millers were important to the [[history of agriculture|development of agriculture]].
The materials ground by millers are often [[foodstuff]]s and particularly [[cereal|grain]]. The physical grinding of the food allows for the easier digestion of its nutrients and saves wear on the teeth.
Non-food substances needed in a fine, powdered form, such as [[building materials]], may be processed by a miller.
[[Image:Bedandrind.JPG|A Bedstone & the Rind.|Px150|left|thumb|A bedstone and rind. [[Dalgarven Mill]], Scotland.]]
The most basic tool for a miller was the [[quern-stone]] - simply a large, fixed stone as a base and another movable stone operated by hand, similar to a [[mortar and pestle]]. As technology and [[millstones]] (the [[bedstone]] and [[rynd]]) improved, more elaborate machines such as [[watermill]]s and [[windmill]]s were developed to do the grinding work. These [[mill]]s harnessed available energy sources including animal, water, wind and electrical power. Mills are some of [[mill (factory)|the oldest factories]] in human history, so factories making other items are sometimes known as mills, for example, [[cotton mill]]s and [[steel mill]]s. These factory workers are also called millers.
The [[rynd]] in [[history of Scotland|pre-reformation Scotland]] was often carved on millers' gravestones as a symbol of their trade.
[[Category:Defunct occupations]]
[[Category:Cereals]]
[[Category:Flour]]
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[[he:טוחן]]
[[nl:Molenaar]]
[[nn:Møllar]]
[[pt:Moleiro]]
[[fi:Mylläri]]