quadrillion

[ kwo-dril-yuh n ]

/ kwɒˈdrɪl yən /

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.

Nearby words

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

"Three quadrillion times, my son," replied his father with perfect accuracy and a spirit of hourly freshness.
The Kentucky Warbler|James Lane Allen
The observatory on Pluto had reported a free planet passing within two hundred quadrillion miles of the solar system.
Unthinkable|Roger Phillips Graham
Their velocity was six hundred and sixty quadrillion miles per second!
Invaders from the Infinite|John Wood Campbell
For the enormous majority of us there is no difference in this respect between a hundred and a quadrillion.
Getting Married|George Bernard Shaw

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

British Dictionary definitions for quadrillion

quadrillion

/ (kwɒˈdrɪljən) /

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

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).