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trillion - 5 dictionary results

tril⋅lion

[tril-yuhn] noun, plural -lions, (as after a numeral) -lion, adjective
–noun
1. a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 12 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 18 zeros.
–adjective
2. amounting to one trillion in number.

Origin:
1680–90; < F, equiv. to tr(i)- tri- + (m)illion million


trillionth, noun, adjective
tril·lion   (trĭl'yən)   
n.  
  1. The cardinal number equal to 1012.
  2. Chiefly British The cardinal number equal to 1018.

[French : tri-, third power (from Latin tri-, tri-) + (m)illion, million (from Old French milion; see million).]
tril'lion adj.

Trillion

Tril"lion\, n. [F. trillion, formed from the pref. tri- in imitation of million a million. Cf. Billion.] According to the French notation, which is used upon the Continent generally and in the United States, the number expressed by a unit with twelve ciphers annexed; a million millions; according to the English notation, the number produced by involving a million to the third power, or the number represented by a unit with eighteen ciphers annexed. See the Note under Numeration.

trillion 
1690, from Fr. trillion (c.1484), from tri- + (m)illion. Cf. billion. In the U.S., the third power of a thousand (one thousand billion, 1 followed by 12 zeroes); in Great Britain, the third power of a million (one million billion, 1 followed by 18 zeroes), which is the original sense.

trillion mathematics
In Britain, France, and Germany, 10^18 or a million cubed.
In the USA and Canada, 10^12.
[Elsewhere?]
(1996-10-03)

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