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

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

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

VLCCs are the 18-wheelers of the crude world, able to carry about 2 million barrels of oil; Suezmax ships carry half of that.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

“We have already banked $870 million of productivity benefits and are on track to reach an annualized run-rate of $1.8 billion by year-end, with significantly more to come as our multiyear program continues to scale.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Miller previously announced funding of roughly $430 million to support the country’s music, television and film sectors, following the decision to stop the planned increase in streamers’ financial contribution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The company claims it will eventually produce 1 million robots annually at the factory in Fremont, California and 10 million annually in Austin, Texas.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Akira put her hands to her ears, but she could still hear the noise of half a million people in the crowd like the dull roar of a fire in the distance.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

The story was first reported in the Financial Times and the Times, with the latter claiming the plans could potentially earn Fifa president Gianni Infantino tens of millions of pounds.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Trump has been impressed by Ukraine’s resilience and its drone industry, which has grown to producing millions of drones a year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

This week, millions of Haitians lost their temporary protected status, which shielded certain people from deportation on the grounds that they’d be sent back to horrible situations.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

Although such events are extremely uncommon within an individual galaxy, astronomers monitor millions of galaxies in an effort to find them.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

The running cost, in premiums Lippmann paid, was tens of millions of dollars a year, and his losses looked even bigger.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• bank
• lot
• much
• sum
• thousand
• ton
• total
• trillion