German

Numeral

Billion f ‎(genitive Billion, plural Billionen)

1. A long scale billion, 10¹²; a short scale trillion.

Declension

Derived terms

• Billionär

Coordinate terms

English

Numeral

billion

1. (US, modern British & Australian, short scale) a thousand million: 1 followed by nine zeros, 10⁹; a milliard
   • 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

     In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.

2. (dated, British & Australian, long scale) A million million: a 1 followed by twelve zeros; 10¹²
3. (colloquial, in the plural, hyperbolic) A very large number.

   There were billions of people at the concert.‎

Synonyms

• thousand million

See also

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

Derived terms

• billionaire

Related terms

• trillion, coined at same time

Translations

French

Etymology

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

Coined by Jehan Adam in 1475 as by-million.^[1][2][3] Rendered as byllion by Nicolas Chuquet in 1484, in his article “Triparty en la science des nombres”.^[4][5]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.ljɔ̃/

Numeral

billion

1. 10¹²; a long scale billion; a short scale trillion.

Usage notes

• Previous: milliard, 10⁹
• Next: billiard, 10¹⁵

Related terms

• trillion, coined at same time

Descendants

• Catalan: bilió

References

1. ↑ Bibliothèque St Geneviève, Paris, MS Français 3143 - original French manuscript by Jehan Adam
2. ↑ Jehan Adam, Traicté en arismetique pour la practique par gectouers… Parchemin. XVe siècle (1475).
3. ↑ Lynn Thorndike, “The Arithmetic of Jehan Adam, A.D. 1475,” Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century
4. ↑ Chuquet, Nicolas (1484) Triparty en la science des nombres (ISSN 9012-9458), Bologna (Italy): Aristide Marre, published 1880
      Idem (accessed 2008-03-01), “Nicolas Chuquet's manuscript”, in (Please provide the title of the work), Published by www.miakinen.net
5. ↑ Idem (accessed 2008-03-01), “Nicolas Chuquet's chapter”, in (Please provide the title of the work), Transcription by Michael Florencetime

Middle French

Noun

billion m (plural billions)

1. billion, a million-million, 10¹²
   • 1520, Étienne de La Roche, L'arismethique novellement composee, page 6

     ung billion vault mille milliers de millions

     a billion is equivalent to a thousand thousands of millions