quadrillion

[kwo-dril-yuh n]

noun, plural quad·ril·lions, (as after a numeral) quad·ril·lion.

a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 15 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 24 zeros.

adjective

amounting to one quadrillion in number.

Origin of quadrillion

1665–75; quadr- + -illion (as in million)

Related formsquad·ril·lionth, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for quadrillion

Historical Examples of quadrillion

At this rate of growth from a single cholera bacillus sixteen quadrillion might arise in a single day.
Disease and Its Causes
William Thomas Councilman
Quadrillion, kwod-ril′yun, n. a million raised to the fourth power, represented by a unit with twenty-four ciphers.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)
Various
"Three quadrillion times, my son," replied his father with perfect accuracy and a spirit of hourly freshness.
The Kentucky Warbler
James Lane Allen
For the enormous majority of us there is no difference in this respect between a hundred and a quadrillion.
Getting Married
George Bernard Shaw
Their velocity was six hundred and sixty quadrillion miles per second!
Invaders from the Infinite
John Wood Campbell

British Dictionary definitions for quadrillion

quadrillion

noun

(in Britain) the number represented as one followed by 24 zeros (10 24)US and Canadian word: septillion

(in the US and Canada) the number represented as one followed by 15 zeros (10 15)

determiner

amounting to this numbera quadrillion atoms
(as pronoun)a quadrillion

Derived Formsquadrillionth, adjective

Word Origin for quadrillion

C17: from French quadrillon, from quadri- + -illion, on the model of 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

Word Origin and History for quadrillion

1670s, from French quadrillion (16c.) from quadri- "four" (see quadri-) + (m)illion. Cf. billion. In Great Britain, the fourth power of a million (1 followed by 24 zeroes); in the U.S., the fifth power of a thousand (1 followed by 15 zeroes).