googol

American  

[goo-gawl, -gol, -guhl] / ˈgu gɔl, -gɒl, -gəl /

noun

1. a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros and expressed as 10 100 .

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googol British  

/ ˈɡuːɡɒl, -ɡəl /

noun

1. the number represented as one followed by 100 zeros (10 ¹⁰⁰ )

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googol Scientific  

/ go̅o̅′gôl′,go̅o̅′gəl /

1. The number 10 raised to the 100th power (10 ¹⁰⁰), written out as 1 followed by 100 zeros.

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Etymology

Origin of googol

First recorded in 1935–40; introduced by U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner (1878–1955), whose nine-year-old nephew allegedly invented it

Explanation

A googol is a famously huge number, literally ten to the one hundredth power. A math teacher might offer extra credit to students who correctly write out the digits of a googol on the blackboard. If you want to write out a googol, write the number one followed by one hundred zeros. Mathematicians sometimes use the idea of a googol to illustrate the difference between an enormous number — one that's too large to imagine — and infinity. The word googol was invented by the young nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner, one of the authors of the 1940 book "Mathematics and the Imagination."

Example Sentences

There are some theories that allow more than a googol of different vacuum states, in each of which the microphysics would be different.

From Scientific American • Mar. 17, 2018

Of Google, she says it can be an “an empty vessel who don’t know what a googol is.”

From Forbes • Oct. 14, 2013

Science with humanity is googol times more amazing.

From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2013

Only geeks know googol is math speak for the digit one followed by one hundred zeros.

From Inc • May 23, 2013

If a googol seems large, consider a googolplex.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• figure
• statistic
• sum
• total