Definition:Billion/Short Scale

Definition

Billion is a name for $10^9$ in the short scale system:

One billion $= 10^{3 \times 2 + 3}$

Also defined as

In the long scale system:

One billion $= 10^{6 \times 2} = 10^{12}$

Also known as

Archaic and rare terms for the same number are:

• Milliard
• Gillion

Also see

• Definition:Billion (Long Scale)

Linguistic Note

The word billion derives from the prefix bi-, meaning twofold, and million, originating as the number $1 \, 000 \, 000$ to the power of $2$.

Sources

• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): billion: 2.
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): billion
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): billion
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): billion