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
Tarun Eldho Alias, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
Building a new complex in Maryland would have cost billions of dollars.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 1 July 2025
The bill threatens to end billions of dollars in green-energy tax credits, which some say could decimate the country’s wind and solar industries.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 1 July 2025
In addition to spending cuts for SNAP, the bill commits billions to border security, overhauls the federal student loan program, and ends the $7,500 credit for buying an electric car passed as part of former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
—Elena Moore, NPR, 1 July 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 12 Jul. 2025.
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