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
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2025
The administration’s budget resolution proposes billions in tax and spending cuts.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2025
For every dollar these organizations raise through ActBlue, the payment processor pockets roughly 4 cents — a seemingly small quantity that quickly adds up, given the platform’s billions of dollars in contributions.
—Robert Schmad, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 18 Mar. 2025
Lack of effort to stop global warming, which could raise global temperatures by 3 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, could cause billions of people to lose their livelihoods and global economic output to go down 34%.
—Megan Poinski, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for billion
Cite this Entry
“Billion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billion. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share