billion

[bil-yuhn]

noun

plural

billions ,

plural

billion .

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 9 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 12 zeros.

2. a very large number.

   I've told you so billions of times.

adjective

1. equal in number to a billion.

billion

/ ˈbɪljən /

noun

1. one thousand million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 or 10 ⁹

2. (formerly, in Britain) one million million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 000 or 10 ¹²

3. (often plural) any exceptionally large number

determiner

1. (preceded by a or a cardinal number)

   1. amounting to a billion

      it seems like a billion years ago

   2. ( as pronoun )

      we have a billion here

Other Word Forms

• billionth adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of billion¹

1680–90; < French, equivalent to b ( i )- bi- ¹ + -illion, as in million

Word History and Origins

Origin of billion¹

C17: from French, from _bi- ¹ + -llion as in million

Example Sentences

This compared with consensus expectations of $6.11 billion, according to estimates provided by Visible Alpha.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The increase was driven by 11.7 billion francs in net new money inflows and strong stock markets, which offset the hit from a stronger franc against the dollar and the sale of its Brazilian subsidiary.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In France, one in two adults is overweight or obese, and globally the number reaches two and a half billion people.

Read more on Science Daily

Doing so could save Britain "tens of billions" in costs and reverse the industry's "decline" in recent years, the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce found.

Read more on BBC

When the social-media company issued $30 billion of bonds at the end of October, it had to lure investors with yields comfortably above those of its existing debt.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal