million

American  

[mil-yuhn] / ˈmɪl yən /

noun

plural

millions,

plural

million

1. a cardinal number, a thousand times one thousand.

2. a symbol for this number, as 1,000,000 or M̅.

3. millions, a number between 1,000,000 and 999,999,999, as in referring to an amount of money.

   His fortune was in the millions of dollars.

4. the amount of a thousand thousand units of money, as dollars, pounds, or euros.

   The three Dutch paintings fetched a million.

5. a very great number of times.

   Thanks a million.

6. the million(s), the mass of the common people; the multitude.

   poetry for the millions.

---

adjective

1. amounting to one million in number.

2. amounting to a very great number.

   a million things to do.

million British  

/ ˈmɪljən /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of 1000 multiplied by 1000 See also number

2. a numeral, 1 000 000, 10 ⁶ , M, etc, representing this number

3. informal (often plural) an extremely large but unspecified number, quantity, or amount

   I have millions of things to do

---

determiner

1. 1. amounting to a million

      a million light years away

   2. ( as pronoun )

      I can see a million under the microscope

2. informal done for; sunk

million Idioms  

1. see feel like oneself (a million dollars); look like a million dollars; one in a million.

---

Other Word Forms

• multimillion noun

Etymology

Origin of million

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English milioun, from Middle French, from Old Italian millione ( Italian milione ), equivalent to mille “thousand” (from Latin mīlle ) + -one, augmentative suffix

Example Sentences

Brundage eventually counted around 2 million of these hacked devices, with tens of thousands of new ones being added every day.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The fund will cap its repurchase of shares at 5% of its total, or $179 million.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

During the same period she approved more than $3.5 million in contracts for the organization.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

The number of those displaced by the war is approaching four million.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

My mind was a million miles away when suddenly my aunt said, “Eben McAllister, you’ve had your nose in that book so long, I forgot what you look like! Wakeup and see the world.”

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Related Words

• bank
• lot
• much
• sum
• thousand
• ton
• total
• trillion