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Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: 1,000,000,000 , i.e. one thousand million , or 10 9 (ten to the ninth power ), as defined on the short scale . This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of English; it has long been established in American English and has since become common in ...
One billion years may be called an eon in astronomy or geology. Previously in British English (but not in American English), the word "billion" referred exclusively to a million millions (1,000,000,000,000). However, this is not common anymore, and the word has been used to mean one thousand million (1,000,000,000) for several decades.
Each of these words translates to the American English or post-1974 British English word billion (10 9 in the short scale). The term billion originally meant 10 12 when introduced. [7] In long scale countries, milliard was defined to its current value of 10 9, leaving billion at its original 10 12 value and so on for the larger numbers. [7]
The Oxford English Dictionary comments that googol and googolplex are "not in formal mathematical use". Usage of names of large numbers Some names of large numbers, such as million , billion , and trillion , have real referents in human experience, and are encountered in many contexts, particularly in finance and economics.
For most people, it's hard to imagine having even a million dollars, let a billion. However, fortunes totaling $1 billion -- and much, much more -- are a reality for the richest people in the...
For example, a billion is represented as 13 characters (1,000,000,000) in traditional decimal format, but is only 3 characters (10 9) when expressed in exponential format. A trillion is 17 chars in traditional, but only 4 (10 12) in exponential. Values that vary dramatically can be represented and compared graphically via logarithmic scale.
the long scale — designates a system of numeric names formerly used in British English, but now obsolete, in which a billion is used for a million million (and similarly, with trillion, quadrillion etc., the prefix denoting the power of a million); and a thousand million is sometimes called a milliard. This system is still used in several ...
The English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as agglutinative construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes pseudo (false, spurious) and anti (against, opposed to) can be added as ...