billion

[ bil-yuhn ]

noun

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

1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 9 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 12 zeros.
2. a very large number:

   I've told you so billions of times.

adjective

1. equal in number to a billion.

billion

/ ˈbɪljən /

noun

1. one thousand million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 or 10 ⁹
2. (formerly, in Britain) one million million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 000 or 10 ¹²
3. often plural any exceptionally large number

determiner

1. preceded by a or a cardinal number
   1. amounting to a billion

      it seems like a billion years ago

   2. ( as pronoun )

      we have a billion here

Derived Forms

• ˈbillionth, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• billionth adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of billion¹

1680–90; < French, equivalent to b ( i )- bi- ¹ + -illion, as in million

Word History and Origins

Origin of billion¹

C17: from French, from bi- ¹+ -llion as in million

Example Sentences

The Defense Department, with a budget of more than $800 billion, includes some 1.3 million active-duty troops and an additional 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees.

From Los Angeles Times

Luckey, a Long Beach native, sold his virtual reality company to Facebook for $3 billion at the age of 21.

From Los Angeles Times

The Grace Commission made proposals it said would save almost $300 billion over three years, though the Congressional Budget Office and General Accounting Office estimated only about one-third of that amount would be saved.

From Los Angeles Times

Between 1993 and 2000, the initiative cut the federal workforce by 426,200, yielding $136 billion in savings to taxpayers.

From Los Angeles Times

Of course, Trump is one of that show’s regular viewers, and, to the surprise of his advisers, he picked Hegseth to run the Department of Defense—the country’s largest bureaucracy, with 2.8 million employees and a budget this year of $841 billion—because he liked a lot of what the rugged-looking co-host was saying.

From Slate