million

American  

[mil-yuhn] / ˈmɪl yən /

noun

plural

millions,

plural

million

1. a cardinal number, a thousand times one thousand.

2. a symbol for this number, as 1,000,000 or M̅.

3. millions, a number between 1,000,000 and 999,999,999, as in referring to an amount of money.

   His fortune was in the millions of dollars.

4. the amount of a thousand thousand units of money, as dollars, pounds, or euros.

   The three Dutch paintings fetched a million.

5. a very great number of times.

   Thanks a million.

6. the million(s), the mass of the common people; the multitude.

   poetry for the millions.

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adjective

1. amounting to one million in number.

2. amounting to a very great number.

   a million things to do.

million British  

/ ˈmɪljən /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of 1000 multiplied by 1000 See also number

2. a numeral, 1 000 000, 10 ⁶ , M, etc, representing this number

3. informal (often plural) an extremely large but unspecified number, quantity, or amount

   I have millions of things to do

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to a million

      a million light years away

   2. ( as pronoun )

      I can see a million under the microscope

2. informal done for; sunk

million Idioms  

1. see feel like oneself (a million dollars); look like a million dollars; one in a million.

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Other Word Forms

• multimillion noun

Etymology

Origin of million

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English milioun, from Middle French, from Old Italian millione ( Italian milione ), equivalent to mille “thousand” (from Latin mīlle ) + -one, augmentative suffix

Example Sentences

The International Transport Workers’ Federation, a labor union based in London that represents a million seafarers, has received about 1,000 inquiries since the start of the conflict from crew near the strait, asking for support.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

More than 200 million iPhones are sold each year - with roughly one purchased somewhere in the world every seven seconds.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

The company’s $400 million of five-year 6.125% senior debt yielded about 7.5% this past week, Bloomberg data show.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

Adding the new Uniqlo naming rights to the enormous television rights helped the team generate $850 million in revenue last season — the most of any MLB team.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

Not that I’d ever in a million years admit that.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• bank
• lot
• much
• sum
• thousand
• ton
• total
• trillion