trillion

American  

[tril-yuhn] / ˈtrɪl yən /

noun

plural

trillions,

plural

trillion

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 12 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 18 zeros.

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adjective

1. amounting to one trillion in number.

trillion British  

/ ˈtrɪljən /

noun

1. the number represented as one followed by twelve zeros (10 ¹² ); a million million

2. (formerly, in Britain) the number represented as one followed by eighteen zeros (10 ¹⁸ ); a million million million

3. (often plural) an exceptionally large but unspecified number

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to a trillion

      a trillion stars

   2. ( as pronoun )

      there are three trillion

Other Word Forms

• trillionth noun

Etymology

Origin of trillion

1680–90; < French, equivalent to tr ( i )- tri- + ( m ) illion million

Compare meaning

How does trillion compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• billion vs. trillion

Example Sentences

CEO Elon Musk is convinced there will be a big market for them though - his record $1 trillion pay packet is partly linked to him selling one million bots in the next ten years.

From BBC

Quarterly revenue is forecast to have risen 23% to 93 trillion won.

From Barron's

This puts the technology on a path to being scaled towards accurately doing a trillion operations, perhaps within seven or eight years, rather than the two decades previously assumed.

From BBC

The South Korean technology company said in preliminary results Thursday that its operating profit likely reached 20 trillion won, equivalent to $13.81 billion, for the final quarter of 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal

Tesla shareholders in November approved giving Chief Executive Elon Musk $1 trillion in Tesla stock if he hits certain milestones over the next decade.

From The Wall Street Journal