Definitions for billion
ˈbɪl yənbil·lion

Princeton's WordNet(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. billion, one million million, 1000000000000noun

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros; in the United Kingdom the usage followed in the United States is frequently seen

2. million, billion, trillion, zillion, jillion, gazillionnoun

   a very large indefinite number (usually hyperbole)

   "there were millions of flies"

3. billion, one thousand million, 1000000000adjective

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 9 zeros

4. billionadjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of one thousand million items or units in the United States

5. billionadjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of one million million items or units in Great Britain

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Billionnoun

   according to the French and American method of numeration, a thousand millions, or 1,000,000,000; according to the English method, a million millions, or 1,000,000,000,000. See Numeration

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Billion

   bil′yun, n. a million or thousand thousand of millions (1,000,000,000,000); or, according to the French method of numeration, one thousand millions (1,000,000,000). [L. bi-, twice, and Million.]

Matched Categories

1. • Large Indefinite Quantity

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'billion' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2140

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'billion' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3868

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'billion' in Nouns Frequency: #913

How to pronounce billion?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say billion in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of billion in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of billion in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of billion in a Sentence

1. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal:

   We are certain that we will reach the $100 billion by 2020.

2. Aaron Fischer:

   We believe it's in the very best interests of the concession holders to demonstrate to the government the significant investment they are making to help diversify the economy towards other forms of entertainment such as theatre and cultural activities, these investments should translate into approval for around 400 gaming tables...reasonable considering the capital expenditure investment of between $2.5-4 billion being made by each of the operators.

3. Director Ridley Scott:

   NASA now knows that there is a massive glacier and therefore several massive glaciers of pure water underneath the sand on Mars, so one does ask the question - 'a billion years ago, was Mars like us'?

4. Andrea Agnelli:

   When I look at the best information I’ve had so far, we’re looking at a bottom-line loss for the industry in the region of €6.5 billion ($7.9 billion) to €8.5 billion ($10.3 billion) for the combined two years.

5. Lizzie Litzow:

   That is a completely misleading statement about the detailed contracting work FEMA does during times of disasters, in fact, FEMA awarded more than $ 3.9 billion dollars in contracts supporting response and recovery efforts for the 2017 hurricane season, with the agency canceling just three contracts. Those three companies did not meet their contract requirements when they were unable to meet the required delivery dates.

Popularity rank by frequency of use