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Trillion

Trillion is a number with two distinct definitions:

  • 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or 1012 (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English.
  • 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, i.e. 1018 (ten to the eighteenth power), as defined on the long scale. This is one million times larger than the short scale trillion. This is the historical meaning in English and the current use in many non-English-speaking countries where trillion and billion 1012 (ten to the twelfth power) maintain their long scale definitions.
Visualization of 1 trillion (short scale)
A Rubik's cube, which has about 43 trillion (long scale) possible positions

Usage edit

Originally, the United Kingdom used the long scale trillion. However, since 1974, official UK statistics have used the short scale. Since the 1950s, the short scale has been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism, although the long scale definition still has some limited usage.[1][2]

American English has always used the short scale definition.

Other countries use the word trillion (or words cognate to it) to denote either the long scale or short scale trillion. For details, see current usage.

During the height of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe in 2008, people became accustomed to speaking about their daily expenses in terms of trillions.[2]

When Italy used the lira as currency, eventually converted at about 2,000 lira to the euro, it was found that Italians were more comfortable with words for large numbers such as trillion than British people.[2]

Etymology edit

Whilst the words billion and trillion, or variations thereof were first used by French mathematicians in the 15th century,[2] the word trillion was first used in English in the 1680s and comes from the Italian word trilione.[3]

The word originally meant the third power of one million.[2][3] As a result, it was mainly used to express the concept of an enormous number, similar to the words zillion and gazillion. However, it was more commonly used in the US.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Is trillion the new billion?". BBC News. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  3. ^ a b "trillion | Etymology, origin and meaning of trillion by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.


trillion, other, uses, disambiguation, number, with, distinct, definitions, million, million, 1012, twelfth, power, defined, short, scale, this, meaning, both, american, british, english, 1018, eighteenth, power, defined, long, scale, this, million, times, lar. For other uses see Trillion disambiguation Trillion is a number with two distinct definitions 1 000 000 000 000 i e one million million or 1012 ten to the twelfth power as defined on the short scale This is now the meaning in both American and British English 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 i e 1018 ten to the eighteenth power as defined on the long scale This is one million times larger than the short scale trillion This is the historical meaning in English and the current use in many non English speaking countries where trillion and billion 1012 ten to the twelfth power maintain their long scale definitions Visualization of 1 trillion short scale A Rubik s cube which has about 43 trillion long scale possible positions Contents 1 Usage 2 Etymology 3 See also 4 ReferencesUsage editOriginally the United Kingdom used the long scale trillion However since 1974 official UK statistics have used the short scale Since the 1950s the short scale has been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism although the long scale definition still has some limited usage 1 2 American English has always used the short scale definition Other countries use the word trillion or words cognate to it to denote either the long scale or short scale trillion For details see current usage During the height of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe in 2008 people became accustomed to speaking about their daily expenses in terms of trillions 2 When Italy used the lira as currency eventually converted at about 2 000 lira to the euro it was found that Italians were more comfortable with words for large numbers such as trillion than British people 2 Etymology edit nbsp Look up trillion in Wiktionary the free dictionary Whilst the words billion and trillion or variations thereof were first used by French mathematicians in the 15th century 2 the word trillion was first used in English in the 1680s and comes from the Italian word trilione 3 The word originally meant the third power of one million 2 3 As a result it was mainly used to express the concept of an enormous number similar to the words zillion and gazillion However it was more commonly used in the US 2 See also editNames of large numbers Billion another ambiguous numerical wordReferences edit 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 a b c d e f Is trillion the new billion BBC News 2011 10 28 Retrieved 2022 02 17 a b trillion Etymology origin and meaning of trillion by etymonline www etymonline com Archived from the original on 1 May 2019 Retrieved 6 February 2022 nbsp This article about a number is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This vocabulary related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trillion amp oldid 1203595864, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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