• billion •
Pronunciation: bil-yên • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Well, it depends on where you live. 1. In the US billlion means 1000 million. 2. In the UK and countries that follow the traditional UK numbering system, it means a million million (a US trillion).
Notes: We thought it might be useful to point out that when billionaires from the US and UK are bragging together, they should keep today's Good Word in mind to avoid embarrassment. A US billionaire in the UK is merely a milliardaire and, until you have a US trillion dollars in the bank, you are not a billionaire in the UK (and then you are only a dollar billionaire, not a pound billionaire). The traditional UK system runs million, milliard, billion, billiard, etc., not million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, so that a US trillion equals a UK quintillion. The good news is that the UK is in the process of changing to the US system.
In Play: Today you find inflation everywhere, so wherever we used million in the last millennium, we probably should switch to billion in this one: "Marty Graahe has a billion excuses for putting off work." If we are talking about dollars, this word usually carries its US sense: "Robin Banks was reluctant to explain how he made over a billion dollars in the course of only 20 years."
Word History: Today's Good Word came from French billion, a blend of bis "twice, 2nd power" + million. Million seems to have originated in Italian as milione, augmentative of mille "thousand", which is to say, "a large thousand". The augmentative suffix -one is also used in minestrone, padrone, and calzone "pants leg" from calza "sock", something to think about the next time you are ordering Italian. (Today we offer Loren Baldwin a UK billion thanks for spotting this number, so troublesome for English billionaires around the world.)
BILLION
- Dr. Goodword
- Site Admin
- Posts: 7417
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
- Location: Lewisburg, PA
- Contact:
BILLION
• The Good Dr. Goodword
Dear Dr. Goodword,
Please note that since 1975, the word "billion" has denoted 10e9 (ten to the nineth power) and 10e12 is referred to as a "trillion" by act of Parliament. Most other English-speaking countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland also use the same nomenclature. Those countries using "billion" to denote 10e12 (the "Long Scale") are mainly other western European (France, Germany, etc.)
I think it is important to distinguish between historical usage (pre 1975) from current usage and to properly define the geographical extent of the two usages as failing to do so only encourages confusion.
Cheers,
Please note that since 1975, the word "billion" has denoted 10e9 (ten to the nineth power) and 10e12 is referred to as a "trillion" by act of Parliament. Most other English-speaking countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland also use the same nomenclature. Those countries using "billion" to denote 10e12 (the "Long Scale") are mainly other western European (France, Germany, etc.)
I think it is important to distinguish between historical usage (pre 1975) from current usage and to properly define the geographical extent of the two usages as failing to do so only encourages confusion.
Cheers,
Calzone
On behalf of the pizzaioli guild I must officially protest for accosting a calzone to a ( n implicitly dirty) sock.
Upon request I could concoct different linguistic interpretations for calzone
(Cooking tip: a good calzone must be cooked almost double time as compared to pizza and by using the cooler section of the oven. For the last 30 seconds it can then be transferred to the hottest area to crisp. Pretend it! That is, if your pizzeria uses a wood fire oven, as it should. For home calzone, unless you have a proper pizza hut, just rise the temperature of your electric grill for the last couple of cooking minutes.
Perfect for a cenacle.)
On behalf of the pizzaioli guild I must officially protest for accosting a calzone to a ( n implicitly dirty) sock.
Upon request I could concoct different linguistic interpretations for calzone
(Cooking tip: a good calzone must be cooked almost double time as compared to pizza and by using the cooler section of the oven. For the last 30 seconds it can then be transferred to the hottest area to crisp. Pretend it! That is, if your pizzeria uses a wood fire oven, as it should. For home calzone, unless you have a proper pizza hut, just rise the temperature of your electric grill for the last couple of cooking minutes.
Perfect for a cenacle.)
- Dr. Goodword
- Site Admin
- Posts: 7417
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
- Location: Lewisburg, PA
- Contact:
Error in BILLION
My discussion of the billion-milliard relationship recently was about a quarter century too late, so be sure to review the 2nd edition posted above.
I was away with friends celebrating another merestone in my advancing age which explains (though does not excuse) both the memory lapse and the anachronistic view.
I was away with friends celebrating another merestone in my advancing age which explains (though does not excuse) both the memory lapse and the anachronistic view.
• The Good Dr. Goodword
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
Re: Error in BILLION
Now THERE'S a word that deserves to be a Goodword, not just a mere word.....
I was away with friends celebrating another merestone in my advancing age which explains (though does not excuse) both the memory lapse and the anachronistic view.
Better an upright slab surmounting a pile of stones than an upright slab set in the ground! May you enjoy many more, Doc!Quick definitions (merestone)
noun: an old term for a landmark that consisted of a pile of stones surmounted by an upright slab
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
This is the Table which all EU members, including GB, should comply to.
Is it also the standard international scientific community Table?
CEE n. 55 del 21/11/1994
------------------------------------------------------NAME PREFIX SYMBOL
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^18 trilione esa E
1 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^15 biliardo peta P
1 000 000 000 000 = 10^12 bilione tera T
1 000 000 000 = 10^9 miliardo giga G
1 000 000 = 10^6 milione mega M
1 000 = 10^3 mille chilo k
100 = 10^2 cento etto h
10 = 10^1 dieci deca da
0,1 = 10^-1 decimo deci d
0,01 = 10^-2 centesimo centi c
0,001 = 10^-3 millesimo milli m
0,000 001 = 10^-6 milionesimo micro μ
0,000 000 001 = 10^-9 miliardesimo nano n
0,000 000 000 001 = 10^-12 bilionesimo pico p
0,000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-15 biliardesimo fento f
0,000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-18 trilionesimo atto a
Sorry, I could only find the Italian naming. I trust you will find it easy to understand.
The original is properly set in colums and with the powers apexed but I could not find a way to respect it.
Is it also the standard international scientific community Table?
CEE n. 55 del 21/11/1994
------------------------------------------------------NAME PREFIX SYMBOL
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^18 trilione esa E
1 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^15 biliardo peta P
1 000 000 000 000 = 10^12 bilione tera T
1 000 000 000 = 10^9 miliardo giga G
1 000 000 = 10^6 milione mega M
1 000 = 10^3 mille chilo k
100 = 10^2 cento etto h
10 = 10^1 dieci deca da
0,1 = 10^-1 decimo deci d
0,01 = 10^-2 centesimo centi c
0,001 = 10^-3 millesimo milli m
0,000 001 = 10^-6 milionesimo micro μ
0,000 000 001 = 10^-9 miliardesimo nano n
0,000 000 000 001 = 10^-12 bilionesimo pico p
0,000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-15 biliardesimo fento f
0,000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-18 trilionesimo atto a
Sorry, I could only find the Italian naming. I trust you will find it easy to understand.
The original is properly set in colums and with the powers apexed but I could not find a way to respect it.
Cacaseno, did your table come from Brussels? If so, can you cite the EU official standards document?
According to one source, the names for powers of ten inthe scientific literature are
prefix prefix power of 10
name symbol
yocto --- y ----- 10e-24
zeptp --- z ----- 10e-21
atto ---- a ----- 10e-18
femto --- f ----- 10e-15
pico ----- p ----- 10e-12
nano ---- n ----- 10e-9
micro -- (mu) --- 10e-6 (my keyboard doesnt do Greek)
milli ----- m ----- 10e-3
centi ---- c ------ 10e-2
deci ----- d ------ 10e-1
[unity] [none] --- 10e0
deka ---- da ----- 10e+1
hecto --- h ------ 10e+2
kilo ----- k ------- 10e+3
mega -- M ------- 10e+6
giga --- G ------- 10e+9
tera --- T -------- 10e+12
peta --- P ------- 10e+15
exa ---- E ------- 10e+18
zetta -- Z ------- 10e+21
yotta -- Y ------- 10e+24
A certain symmetry can be observed
According to one source, the names for powers of ten inthe scientific literature are
prefix prefix power of 10
name symbol
yocto --- y ----- 10e-24
zeptp --- z ----- 10e-21
atto ---- a ----- 10e-18
femto --- f ----- 10e-15
pico ----- p ----- 10e-12
nano ---- n ----- 10e-9
micro -- (mu) --- 10e-6 (my keyboard doesnt do Greek)
milli ----- m ----- 10e-3
centi ---- c ------ 10e-2
deci ----- d ------ 10e-1
[unity] [none] --- 10e0
deka ---- da ----- 10e+1
hecto --- h ------ 10e+2
kilo ----- k ------- 10e+3
mega -- M ------- 10e+6
giga --- G ------- 10e+9
tera --- T -------- 10e+12
peta --- P ------- 10e+15
exa ---- E ------- 10e+18
zetta -- Z ------- 10e+21
yotta -- Y ------- 10e+24
A certain symmetry can be observed
bnjtokyo, the table was hard to find and cannot exactly remember where the one I posted comes from.
Certainly an official site such as I.S.O. (International Organization for Standardization), C.E.N. (European Committee for Standardization)……..
Here is another official source I have used to double check my table:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 54:IT:HTML
Certainly an official site such as I.S.O. (International Organization for Standardization), C.E.N. (European Committee for Standardization)……..
Here is another official source I have used to double check my table:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 54:IT:HTML
Return to “Good Word Discussion”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 47 guests