septillion

American  

[sep-til-yuhn] / sɛpˈtɪl yən /

noun

septillions plural

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 24 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 42 zeros.

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adjective

1. amounting to one septillion in number.

septillion British  

/ sɛpˈtɪljən /

noun

1. (in Britain, France, and Germany) the number represented as one followed by 42 zeros (10 ⁴² )

2. Brit word: quadrillion.  (in the US and Canada) the number represented as one followed by 24 zeros (10 ²⁴ )

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Other Word Forms

• septillionth
  noun
• septillionth
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of septillion

1680–90; < French, equivalent to sept seven + -illion, as in million

Example Sentences

Google has unveiled a new chip which it claims takes five minutes to solve a problem that would currently take the world's fastest super computers a septillion – or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years – to complete.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2024

Our brains are made of more than a septillion molecules, each formed by connected atoms, akin to Lego blocks clicked together.

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2022

By some accounts, there are a septillion stars in the visible universe.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 18, 2016

No, that term for 1 septillion bytes has nothing to do with the mythical Yeti.

From Forbes • Jun. 28, 2013