million

American  

[mil-yuhn] / ˈmɪl yən /

noun

plural

millions,

plural

million

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

• multimillion noun

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

Example Sentences

Pacquiao’s lawyers said the boxer “incurred millions of dollars in legal fees and costs to clear his name.”

From Los Angeles Times

It eliminates tariffs on more than 90 percent of trade between the two blocs, which together account for 30 percent of global GDP and more than 700 million consumers.

From Barron's

Cuba, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years battled shortages of fuel, medicine and food, even before the Caribbean country of 9.6 million people lost its main oil supplier.

From Barron's

Wall Street had anticipated earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $840 million, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

From Barron's

For the quarter, Wall Street is looking for a loss of 10 cents a share and revenue of $177 million.

From Barron's

Related Words

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