milliard

American

[mil-yerd, -yahrd] / ˈmɪl yərd, -yɑrd /

noun

British.

one thousand millions; equivalent to U.S. billion.

milliard British

/ ˈmɪljɑːd, ˈmɪlɪˌɑːd /

noun

US and Canadian equivalent: billion. (no longer in technical use) a thousand million

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of milliard

From French, dating back to 1785–95; milli-, -ard

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bar = bar of gold used to be c£1m Yard = short for "milliard".

From The Guardian

It would add at one stroke of the pen at least three milliards to the twelve milliards of the public debt.

From Project Gutenberg

We were deprived of half a milliard poods of coal imported from abroad.

From Project Gutenberg

At this Krishna smiled and plunged into meditation, and immediately innumerable troops of Brahmas came there, some with ten heads, some with twenty, hundred, thousand, million, even a milliard, beyond the power of counting.

From Project Gutenberg

I would not be in Eug�ne's boots for a milliard.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023