fbpx
Wikipedia

Billion

Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:

  • 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or 109 (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.[1][2]
  • 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or 1012 (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the long scale. This number, which is one thousand times larger than the short scale billion, is now referred to in English as one trillion. However, this number is the historical meaning in English for the word "billion" (with the exception of the United States), a meaning which was still in official use in British English until some time after World War II.

American English adopted the short scale definition from the French (it enjoyed usage in France at the time, alongside the long-scale definition).[3] The United Kingdom used the long scale billion until 1974, when the government officially switched to the short scale, but since the 1950s the short scale had already been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism. [4]

Other countries use the word billion (or words cognate to it) to denote either the long scale or short scale billion. (For details, see Long and short scales § Current usage.)

Milliard, another term for one thousand million, is extremely rare in English, but words similar to it are very common in other European languages.[5][6] For example, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Hebrew (Asia), Hungarian, Italian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (although the expression mil milhões — a thousand million — is far more common), Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish (although the expression mil millones — a thousand million — is far more common), Swedish, Tajik, Turkish, Ukrainian and Uzbek — use milliard, or a related word, for the short scale billion, and billion (or a related word) for the long scale billion. Thus for these languages billion is a thousand times larger than the modern English billion.

History Edit

 
1000 million Mark Notgeld banknote (1923) of Frankfurt am Main

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word billion was formed in the 16th century (from million and the prefix bi-, "two"), meaning the second power of a million (1,000,0002 = 1012). This long scale definition was similarly applied to trillion, quadrillion and so on. The words were originally Latin, and entered English around the end of the 17th century. Later, French arithmeticians changed the words' meanings, adopting the short scale definition whereby three zeros rather than six were added at each step, so a billion came to denote a thousand million (109), a trillion became a million million (1012), and so on. This new convention was adopted in the United States in the 19th century, but Britain retained the original long scale use. France, in turn, reverted to the long scale in 1948.[3]

In Britain, however, under the influence of American usage, the short scale came to be increasingly used. In 1974, Prime Minister Harold Wilson confirmed that the government would use the word billion only in its short scale meaning (one thousand million). In a written answer to Robin Maxwell-Hyslop MP, who asked whether official usage would conform to the traditional British meaning of a million million, Wilson stated: "No. The word 'billion' is now used internationally to mean 1,000 million and it would be confusing if British Ministers were to use it in any other sense. I accept that it could still be interpreted in this country as 1 million million and I shall ask my colleagues to ensure that, if they do use it, there should be no ambiguity as to its meaning."[4]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ . oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012.
  2. ^ Dent, Susie (28 October 2011). "How billions and trillions changed". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "billion, n.". OED Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Cracknell, Richard; Bolton, Paul (January 2009). Statistical literacy guide: What is a billion? And other units (PDF) (Report). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Com s'escriuen els nombres? How to write the numbers?". Serveis i recursos lingüístics. Idiomes a la UPC (in Catalan). Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
  6. ^ "Confusions amb el "billion" i el "trillion" anglesos". ésAdir-El portal lingüístic de la Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (in Catalan). Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals.

billion, other, uses, disambiguation, word, large, number, distinct, definitions, thousand, million, ninth, power, defined, short, scale, this, only, current, meaning, english, million, million, 1012, twelfth, power, defined, long, scale, this, number, which, . For other uses see Billion disambiguation Billion is a word for a large number and it has two distinct definitions 1 000 000 000 i e one thousand million or 109 ten to the ninth power as defined on the short scale This is its only current meaning in English 1 2 1 000 000 000 000 i e one million million or 1012 ten to the twelfth power as defined on the long scale This number which is one thousand times larger than the short scale billion is now referred to in English as one trillion However this number is the historical meaning in English for the word billion with the exception of the United States a meaning which was still in official use in British English until some time after World War II American English adopted the short scale definition from the French it enjoyed usage in France at the time alongside the long scale definition 3 The United Kingdom used the long scale billion until 1974 when the government officially switched to the short scale but since the 1950s the short scale had already been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism 4 Other countries use the word billion or words cognate to it to denote either the long scale or short scale billion For details see Long and short scales Current usage Milliard another term for one thousand million is extremely rare in English but words similar to it are very common in other European languages 5 6 For example Bulgarian Catalan Czech Danish Dutch Finnish French Georgian German Hebrew Asia Hungarian Italian Kazakh Kyrgyz Lithuanian Luxembourgish Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese although the expression mil milhoes a thousand million is far more common Romanian Russian Serbo Croatian Slovak Slovene Spanish although the expression mil millones a thousand million is far more common Swedish Tajik Turkish Ukrainian and Uzbek use milliard or a related word for the short scale billion and billion or a related word for the long scale billion Thus for these languages billion is a thousand times larger than the modern English billion History Edit nbsp 1000 million Mark Notgeld banknote 1923 of Frankfurt am MainAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary the word billion was formed in the 16th century from million and the prefix bi two meaning the second power of a million 1 000 0002 1012 This long scale definition was similarly applied to trillion quadrillion and so on The words were originally Latin and entered English around the end of the 17th century Later French arithmeticians changed the words meanings adopting the short scale definition whereby three zeros rather than six were added at each step so a billion came to denote a thousand million 109 a trillion became a million million 1012 and so on This new convention was adopted in the United States in the 19th century but Britain retained the original long scale use France in turn reverted to the long scale in 1948 3 In Britain however under the influence of American usage the short scale came to be increasingly used In 1974 Prime Minister Harold Wilson confirmed that the government would use the word billion only in its short scale meaning one thousand million In a written answer to Robin Maxwell Hyslop MP who asked whether official usage would conform to the traditional British meaning of a million million Wilson stated No The word billion is now used internationally to mean 1 000 million and it would be confusing if British Ministers were to use it in any other sense I accept that it could still be interpreted in this country as 1 million million and I shall ask my colleagues to ensure that if they do use it there should be no ambiguity as to its meaning 4 See also Edit nbsp Look up billion in Wiktionary the free dictionary Names of large numbersReferences Edit How many is a billion oxforddictionaries com Archived from the original on December 17 2012 Dent Susie 28 October 2011 How billions and trillions changed BBC News Retrieved 10 July 2015 a b billion n OED Online Oxford University Press Retrieved June 15 2019 a b Cracknell Richard Bolton Paul January 2009 Statistical literacy guide What is a billion And other units PDF Report House of Commons Library Retrieved 10 July 2015 Com s escriuen els nombres How to write the numbers Serveis i recursos linguistics Idiomes a la UPC in Catalan Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Confusions amb el billion i el trillion anglesos esAdir El portal linguistic de la Corporacio Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals in Catalan Corporacio Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Billion amp oldid 1166291698, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.