million

American  

[mil-yuhn] / ˈmɪl jən /

noun

• millions,
  plural
• million
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• multimillion
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• million
  plural
• millions
  plural

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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

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Explanation

A million is 1,000,000. It's a large number made of a thousand thousands. If you have a million dollars, you’re a millionaire! The word million comes from the Italian milione, which literally means "a great thousand.” It’s great to have a thousand, but it’s awesome to have a million! A million is a big number but not so big that you don't see it used frequently. In fact, being a millionaire isn’t even a big deal anymore. An online video might be watched by a million viewers, and there are millions of people in big cities like New York City and Chicago.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

million millions

It is asking regulators to let it recover $340.5 million of that sum from customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Newsom’s office said California had spent more than $700 million to clean lead-contaminated soil around the Exide plant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Beyond the rate case, Pacific Power faces about $637 million in liability claims and legal expenses stemming from the 2020 and 2022 fires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

He watched them skateboard through the office—actually an apartment space on Manhattan’s West 4th Street—high-fiving over their recent sale to AOL, a deal valued at roughly $400 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Then another of the eight million basketballs free-ranging around the gym gets in between my feet and I realize I’m going to fall.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

It is the market’s best guess: every possible future weighted by its likelihood of payoff, made by millions of people with their own money on the line and more information than any pundit can hold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

County has paid out tens of millions of dollars in legal settlements stemming from cases involving deputies accused of belonging to secret societies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

First elected to the Senate in 1984, he helped establish the Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, extending coverage to millions of children from low-income families.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

The picture is not one of clean lineages but of a tangled web of contact and exchange extending across millions of years.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

The night was clear, and I could see what must have been millions of stars.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

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