Billion: meaning, definitions and examples

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billion

[ ˈbɪljən ]

^{Context #1}

large number

A billion is a number equal to one thousand million. It is often used in financial contexts to represent a very large sum of money or a large quantity of something.

Synonyms

1,000,000,000, thousand million

Examples of usage

There are over seven billion people in the world.
The company made a profit of one billion dollars last year.

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British English

In British English, a billion traditionally means a million million, which is equivalent to a trillion in American English and other systems.

Synonyms

1,000,000,000,000, trillion

Examples of usage

The British government uses the term billion to mean a million million.

Translations

Translations of the word "billion" in other languages:

🇵🇹 bilhão

🇮🇳 अरब

🇩🇪 Milliarde

🇮🇩 miliar

🇺🇦 мільярд

🇵🇱 miliard

🇯🇵 十億

🇫🇷 milliard

🇪🇸 mil millones

🇹🇷 milyar

🇰🇷 십억

🇸🇦 مليار

🇨🇿 miliarda

🇸🇰 miliarda

🇨🇳 十亿

🇸🇮 milijarda

🇮🇸 milljarður

🇰🇿 миллиард

🇬🇪 მილიარდი

🇦🇿 milyard

🇲🇽 mil millones

Word origin

The word 'billion' originated from French in the late 17th century, where it meant 'a million raised to the power of two'. It entered English in the early 18th century with the same meaning. Over time, the definition of billion has varied between different countries and systems, leading to differing interpretations of the term.