billion
noun
Did you know?
How much is a billion? It might depend on whom you ask. Billion was borrowed from French in the late 1600s to indicate the number one million raised to the power of two, or a million million—a number represented by a 1 followed by 12 zeros. However, the French later changed their naming conventions so that a billion became a thousand million (a 1 followed by 9 zeros) and a trillion became a thousand thousand million (or a million million, the old billion). The French have since returned to the older system, but it was this new system that was adopted by American English speakers in the 1800s. In Britain, the newer system has seen increasing use since the 1950s, but the older sense is still sometimes used there as well.
Examples of billion in a Sentence
Kenneth Roth, TIME, 8 Feb. 2025
This is an old story, too, threaded through billions of lives across centuries and around the globe.
—Megan Marshall, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2025
Now, his posting habit is intertwined with his mission of slashing billions in government funding and waging digital war on Trump's behalf.
—Neal Rothschild, Axios, 8 Feb. 2025
Here’s how to get in on the gold rush
The Bank of England, which is second only to the New York Federal Reserve as a top global custodian of the precious metal, looks after more than 400,000 gold bars worth billions of pounds.
—Olesya Dmitracova, CNN, 7 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for billion 
Dictionary Entries Near billion
Cite this Entry
“Billion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billion. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
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