billion

English Online Dictionary. What means billion‎? What does billion mean?

English

Etymology

From French billion, from bi- (“two”) +‎ -illion.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭl'yən, IPA^(key): /ˈbɪljən/
• Hyphenation: bil‧lion
• Rhymes: -ɪljən

Numeral

billion (plural billions)

1. (US, modern British & Australian, short scale) a thousand million (logic: 1,000 × 1,000²): 1 followed by nine zeros, 10⁹; a milliard
2. (dated, British & Australian, long scale) A million million (logic: 1,000,000²): a 1 followed by twelve zeros; 10¹²
3. (colloquial, hyperbolic) An unspecified very large number.

Synonyms

• (10⁹): milliard, thousand million
• (10¹²): trillion (short scale)

Derived terms

Related terms

• trillion, coined at same time
• zillion, coined after the series million, billion, trillion, quadrillion (modern slang)
• gazillion, from same origin
• -illion, from same origin

Descendants

Translations

See also

• (short scale) Previous: million. Next trillion.
• (long scale) Previous: milliard. Next billiard.
• ISO prefix: giga-

Danish

Noun

billion

1. 10¹²

Declension

French

Etymology

From bi- (“two”) +‎ -illion; i.e., a million million.

Coined by Jehan Adam in 1475 as by-million. Rendered as byllion by Nicolas Chuquet in 1484, in his article “Triparty en la science des nombres”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.ljɔ̃/

Numeral

billion m (plural billions)

1. trillion (10¹²)

   Synonym: mille milliards

2. (dated) billion (10⁹)

   Synonym: milliard

Related terms

• trillion, coined at same time

Descendants

• → Catalan: bilió
• → Portuguese: bilião, bilhão (informal in Portugal)

References

Further reading

• “billion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Noun

billion m (plural billions)

1. billion, a million-million, 10¹²