for millennia = for 2001 - 3000?

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Or for 1001- 2000?

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Cousin virus suggests HIV may be deadly for millennia
16:44 17 September 2010 by Bob Holmes
For similar stories, visit the HIV and AIDS and Genetics Topic Guides
HIV's close cousin, the simian immunodeficiency virus, has been around for tens of thousands of years at least – much longer than the few hundred years that some earlier studies had suggested. Because SIV does not cause AIDS in its primate hosts, some have speculated that HIV too might stop being lethal within a few centuries – but the discovery that SIV has had millennia to evolve into peaceful coexistence dashes these hopes.

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http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19464-cousin-virus-suggests-hiv-may-be-deadly-for-millennia.html

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In this context, it makes sense to read "millennia" (the plural) in both cases as "thousands of years."

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Millennia means thousands of years. So what the authors are saying is that the human imuno-virus (HIV) will probably be a danger, and potentially lethal, for thousands of years. The term does not refer to any specific period of time.

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Thank you both.

Ten thousand years = millennia?

Millennia = 10,000 years?

Also make sense here?

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@oristarA,

A millennium is a period of one thousand years. Therefore, millennia means any period measured in thousands of years which is 2000 years long or longer. It could be 2000 years, 3000 years, 20000 years. Is not more specific than 2000 years or more, in intervals of thousands of years.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

Ten thousand years = millennia?

Millennia = 10,000 years?

No. A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years, often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system. "Millennia" used alone means an unspecified number, greater than one, of thousands of years.

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Got it.

Thank you all.

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for millennia = for 2001 - 3000?

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