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
Parisa Hafezi, USA Today, 9 June 2026
The women on this list oversee hundreds of billions of euros in annual revenue and employ millions of people around the world.
—Sam Birchall, Fortune, 8 June 2026
Across the city, fixing all the lead pipes in Chicago public schools would likely cost in the billions, Ramos estimated, while installing Noahs in these schools would cost around $10 million, without the need for major construction.
—Christiana Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
In decades past, ranchers had tens of millions of dollars in losses — potentially billions in today's dollars.
—CBS News, 8 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 10 Jun. 2026.
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