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
Brad Hamilton, CBS News, 16 June 2026
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said 60-day nuclear negotiations will begin only once the US releases billions in frozen funds.
—Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 15 June 2026
Illinois has expanded automatic matching programs and has returned billions of dollars to residents.
—Mark Lewyn, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2026
From a point roughly 1 million miles from Earth, the telescope is expected to survey the cosmos, capturing panoramas of hundreds of millions of stars and billions of galaxies.
—Denise Chow, NBC news, 15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for billion
Cite this Entry
“Billion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billion. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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