billion

[ bil-yuhn ]

noun

, plural bil·lions, (as after a numeral) bil·lion.

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

Derived Forms

• ˈbillionth, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• billionth adjective noun

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

Moderna had promised to make up to a billion doses during 2021.

From MIT Technology Review

At just a few parts per billion—a range similar to our natural noses—the biohybrid “nose” was able to reliably pick up the smell, with over 90 percent accuracy.

From Singularity Hub 

In the world of Big Tech there has long been a important obsession about getting the internet to the “next billion” people.

From Quartz

Even a few hundred billion galaxies means there’s an entire galaxy out there for every star in the Milky Way.

From Singularity Hub 

A former financier with the multi-billion dollar investment firm, Citadel, Hathiramani sees Flockjay, and the business of tech sales as a way for a number of people to transform their lives.

From TechCrunch

Using standard methods, the cost of printing DNA could run upwards of a billion dollars or more, depending on the strand.

From The Daily Beast

And as a bonus, they send home more than $20 billion in remittances each year.

From The Daily Beast

The amount of vanished bitcoins was 650,000 BTC (or 24.7 billion yen).

From The Daily Beast

Why else would $4 billion have been spent on the midterm election?

From The Daily Beast

Among other things, the bill appropriates $1.1 trillion in funding—including over $550 billion for the Department of Defense.

From The Daily Beast

Expenditure for new manufacturing plant and equipment exceeded one billion dollars in one recent seven-year period.

From Project Gutenberg

He had never imagined wild flowers by the billion, nor such a harmonious variety of color.

From Project Gutenberg

Oh, it's worth a billion milrays to look upon a live person again!

From Project Gutenberg

Well, I'll just bet you a million billion dollars He can't make a trolley car go in two directions at the same time.

From Project Gutenberg

"Over three and a half billion eggs and small fish were distributed last year, if I remember rightly," was the reply.

From Project Gutenberg