undecillion

American  

[uhn-di-sil-yuhn] / ˌʌn dɪˈsɪl yən /

noun

plural

undecillions,

plural

undecillion

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 36 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 66 zeros.

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adjective

1. amounting to one undecillion in number.

Usage

What does undecillion mean?  In the United States, undecillion is the name of the number 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or 10³⁶. In Great Britain, an undecillion is the name of a number represented by 1 followed by 66 zeroes, or 10⁶⁶.Because 1 undecillion is such a large number, you won’t often see it used. One of the most notable uses of undecillion is in the study of atoms. The ratio of electric force to gravitational force between two protons is roughly equal to one undecillion. Another notable use is in computing and internet infrastructure discussions. Under internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), the maximum number of IP addresses the global protocol can contain is around 340 undecillion.You’re more likely to see undecillion used figuratively to mean a large unknown amount, as in There are, like, 40 undecillion flavor choices, and I can’t decide!Example: This code cipher has over 1 undecillion possible combinations, making it nearly impossible to decode.

Other Word Forms

• undecillionth adjective

Etymology

Origin of undecillion

1930–35; < Latin undec ( im ) eleven ( ūn ( us ) one + -decim, combining form of decem ten ) + -illion, as in million

Example Sentences

For a sense of scale, consider that a billion means nine zeroes, while an undecillion  means 38 zeroes.

From Forbes