sextillion

[ seks-til-yuhn ]

noun

, plural sex·til·lions, (as after a numeral) sex·til·lion.

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 21 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 36 zeros.

adjective

1. amounting to one sextillion in number.

sextillion

/ sɛksˈtɪljən /

noun

1. (in Britain, France, and Germany) the number represented as one followed by 36 zeros (10 ³⁶)
2. (in the US and Canada) the number represented as one followed by 21 zeros (10 ²¹)

Derived Forms

• sexˈtillionth, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• sex·tillionth adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sextillion¹

1680–90; < French < Latin sext ( us ) sixth + -illion, as in million

Word History and Origins

Origin of sextillion¹

C17: from French, from sex- + -illion, on the model of septillion

Example Sentences

Put together, the oceans have taken in a whopping 228 sextillion Joules' worth of heat, the scientists concluded.

From Fox News

About ten sextillion molecules of atmosphere are now squeezing their way through the intricate tree of bronchi and bronchioles forming your lungs.

From Scientific American

Your lungs will inhale and exhale about 300 sextillion oxygen molecules.

From New York Times

How soon will we become Zimbabwe, which printed so many Zimbabwean dollars that inflation peaked, in 2008, at an annual rate of ninety sextillion per cent?

From The New Yorker

Bacteria are everywhere: in our bodies, in the air, in the soil, coating every surface in their sextillions.

From The Guardian