billion

A number representing one thousand million (1,000,000,000) in the short scale, commonly used in American English and increasingly in British English.

• 🇫🇷Nombre représentant mille millions (1 000 000 000) selon l'échelle courte, couramment utilisée en anglais américain et de plus en plus en anglais britannique. Peut aussi désigner, par hyperbole, une très grande quantité ou un nombre énorme.

1. One thousand million (US) A2 formal american

   Denoting a quantity consisting of one thousand million items or units (1,000,000,000).

   • The company earned a billion dollars last year.
   • There are over a billion people in that country.
   • He spent a billion dollars on the new project.

   🇫🇷milliard (sens américain)

2. One million million (UK) B1 formal british

   Denoting a quantity consisting of one million million items or units (1,000,000,000,000).

   • In older British usage, a billion was a million million.
   • The national debt reached a billion pounds.
   • The distance to the star is measured in billions of miles.

   🇫🇷billion (français)

3. Very large indefinite number A2 informal

   A hyperbole used to describe an extremely large, indefinite number.

   • I've told you a billion times to clean your room!
   • There are a billion stars in the sky.
   • He has a billion ideas for the new project.

   🇫🇷Nombre très grand et indéfini

   Synonymes: countlessgazillioninnumerablejillionmyriadumpteenzillion

• more billion comparative form
• most billion superlative form

A noun referring to a large number, specifically one thousand million (1,000,000,000) in American English, or one million million (1,000,000,000,000) in traditional British English; also used hyperbolically to mean an indefinitely large quantity.

• 🇫🇷Nom désignant un très grand nombre : mille millions (1 000 000 000) dans l'usage américain courant, ou un million de millions (1 000 000 000 000) dans l'usage britannique traditionnel ; employé aussi par hyperbole pour une quantité énorme et indéterminée.

1. One thousand million A2 formal

   The number represented as 1 followed by 9 zeros (1,000,000,000). This is the standard meaning in the United States and increasingly in the United Kingdom.

   • The company is worth over a billion dollars.
   • There are nearly eight billion people on Earth.
   • He made his first billion before the age of thirty.

   🇫🇷Milliard

   Synonymes: milliard

2. One million million B2 formal british

   The number represented as 1 followed by 12 zeros (1,000,000,000,000). This is the traditional meaning in the United Kingdom, though the US meaning is now more common.

   • In older British texts, a billion was a million million.
   • The national debt was measured in billions, meaning millions of millions.
   • Historically, a British billion was twelve zeros long.

   🇫🇷mille milliards

   Synonymes: trillion

3. A very large number A2 informal

   Used hyperbolically to mean an extremely large, indefinite number.

   • I've told you a billion times to clean your room!
   • There are a billion stars in the sky.
   • He has a billion ideas for new projects.

   🇫🇷Un très grand nombre

   Synonymes: gazillionjillionmilliontrillionzillion

• billions plural form
• billions' possessive plural form
• billion's possessive singular form

The cardinal numeral representing the quantity of one billion units (10⁹ in modern short-scale English); a composite number (2⁹×5⁹); a fundamental large-scale unit in the decimal system, widely used in mathematics, finance, economics, demographics, science, and global measurement. Note: In modern English (American and increasingly British), billion = 1,000,000,000; historically in British English, billion meant 10¹² (long scale), now obsolete. Also functions as a noun (denoting the symbol, quantity, or group of one billion), adjective/determiner (modifying nouns to indicate quantity), and pronoun (standing in for a plural noun phrase).

• 🇫🇷Nombre cardinal désignant un milliard (10⁹) d'objets, de personnes ou d'unités de compte ; grande unité fondamentale dans le système décimal moderne ; utilisé aussi comme nom, déterminant ou pronom.

1. Cardinal numeral: the number 1,000,000,000 A2 formal

   Used to denote a quantity of one billion persons or things; the integer equal to one thousand millions (10⁹) in modern short-scale English; a composite number (2⁹×5⁹); represents a billionfold quantity in counting, mathematics, finance, and everyday usage.

   • The global population exceeded eight billion in 2023.
   • She invested one billion dollars in renewable energy.
   • One billion plus one billion equals two billion.
   • The company's valuation reached one billion euros.
   • He watched one billion streams of his song worldwide.

   🇫🇷Milliard

2. Noun: the number, symbol, or group of one billion B1 formal

   A noun referring to the cardinal number one billion; the numeral symbol 1,000,000,000; a set, collection, or group consisting of one billion items; in currency, a billion-unit denomination; often used in plural form ('billions') to indicate extremely large, indefinite quantities.

   • The number one billion is a critical threshold in demographic studies.
   • Circle the billions in this global economic report.
   • He donated several billions to humanitarian causes.
   • The contract specifies a billion of manufactured components.
   • In informal speech, 'billions' often emphasizes an almost unimaginable scale.

   🇫🇷milliard (numéral)

3. Adjective/Determiner: amounting to one billion A2 formal

   Used attributively before a noun to indicate that the quantity or number of the noun is one billion; modifies plural countable nouns to specify exact quantity; typically remains singular when preceded by a specific number (e.g., two billion years).

   • They launched a billion-dollar infrastructure initiative.
   • We need a billion additional doses of the vaccine.
   • The simulation requires a billion iterations to converge.
   • She has a billion reasons to support the cause.
   • A billion mobile devices were connected to the internet last year.

   🇫🇷un milliard

4. Pronoun: one billion people or things (plural) B2 formal

   Used as a pronoun to refer to one billion previously mentioned or understood persons or things; takes plural verb agreement; often used in the plural form 'billions' to denote an unspecified vast number.

   • Ten billion data points were collected, but only a billion were analyzed.
   • I invited five billion potential users; a billion engaged with the platform.
   • How many units should we forecast? — A billion will align with market projections.
   • Several production lines operated, but a billion units met export standards.
   • Of the transactions processed, a billion were flagged for review.

   🇫🇷un milliard (pronom)

• billionth ordinal