billion
noun
Did you know?
How much is a billion? It might depend on whom you ask. Billion was borrowed from French in the late 1600s to indicate the number one million raised to the power of two, or a million million—a number represented by a 1 followed by 12 zeros. However, the French later changed their naming conventions so that a billion became a thousand million (a 1 followed by 9 zeros) and a trillion became a thousand thousand million (or a million million, the old billion). The French have since returned to the older system, but it was this new system that was adopted by American English speakers in the 1800s. In Britain, the newer system has seen increasing use since the 1950s, but the older sense is still sometimes used there as well.
Examples of billion in a Sentence
Bhanvi Satija, Puyaan Singh, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
Ukraine has tried to resist a total capitulation to American demands on natural resources, but has faced intense pressure from President Trump, who views access to Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth as necessary repayment for the billions the United States has provided Kyiv for its war against Russia.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
The sheer scale of activity - millions of tokens, billions in volume, and hundreds of millions in fees - suggests that Pump.fun has tapped into a powerful demand for speculative trading.
—Boaz Sobrado, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025
Ukrainian officials are also pushing back against the Trump Administration's proposals to take a large chunk of the country's rare earth metals as de facto repayment for the billions of dollars in American military aid.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for billion
Cite this Entry
“Billion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billion. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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