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''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million
''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million
1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...
, or (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. (ten to the eighteenth power), as defined on the long scale
The long and short scales are two powers of ten number naming systems that are consistent with each other for smaller numbers, but are contradictory for larger numbers.
Other numbering systems, particularly in East Asia and South Asia, ha ...
. 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
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
* 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (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 ...
'' (ten to the twelfth power) maintain their long scale definitions.
Usage
Originally, theUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
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.
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
has always used the short scale definition.
Other countries use the word ''trillion'' (or words cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
to it) to denote either the long scale or short scale trillion. For details, see current usage.
During the height of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe
Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe is an ongoing period of currency instability in Zimbabwe which, using Phillip D. Cagan, Cagan's definition of Hyperinflation#Definition, hyperinflation, began in February 2007. During the height of inflation from 200 ...
in 2008, people became accustomed to speaking about their daily expenses in terms of trillions.
When Italy used the lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...
as currency, eventually converted at about 2,000 lira to the euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
, it was found that Italians were more comfortable with words for large numbers such as ''trillion'' than British people.
Etymology
Whilst the words ''billion'' and ''trillion'', or variations thereof were first used by French mathematicians in the15th century
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD).
In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...
, the word ''trillion'' was first used in English in the 1680s and comes from the Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
word .
The word originally meant the third power of one million. As a result, it was mainly used to express the concept of an enormous number, similar to the words ''zillion
Indefinite and fictitious numbers are words, phrases and quantities used to describe an indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. Other descriptions of this con ...
'' and ''gazillion''. However, it was more commonly used in the US.
See also
*Names of large numbers
Depending on context (e.g. language, culture, region), some large numbers have names that allow for describing large quantities in a textual form; not mathematical. For very large values, the text is generally shorter than a decimal numeric repre ...
* 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 (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 ...
, another ambiguous numerical word
References
{{Authority control Large numbers English words