million

[ mil-yuhn ]
See synonyms for: millionmillions on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural mil·lions, (as after a numeral) mil·lion.
  1. a cardinal number, a thousand times one thousand.

  2. a symbol for this number, as 1,000,000 or M̅.

  1. millions, a number between 1,000,000 and 999,999,999, as in referring to an amount of money: His fortune was in the millions of dollars.

  2. the amount of a thousand thousand units of money, as dollars, pounds, or euros: The three Dutch paintings fetched a million.

  3. a very great number of times: Thanks a million.

  4. the million(s), the mass of the common people; the multitude: poetry for the millions.

adjective
  1. amounting to one million in number.

  2. amounting to a very great number: a million things to do.

Origin of million

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English milioun, from Middle French, from Old Italian millione (Italian milione ), equivalent to mille “thousand” (from Latin mīlle ) + -one, augmentative suffix

Other words from million

  • mul·ti·mil·lion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use million in a sentence

  • All the ordinary subjects in schools have been taught over and over again millions and millions of times.

    The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
  • They used to believe in witchcraft, and they burned millions—yes, millions—of innocent women as witches.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • There is no reason to suppose that his is the only Solar System: there may be many millions of solar systems.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • For aught we know, there may be millions of systems, each containing millions of solar systems.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • Reckoning that Neptune is the outermost planet of the solar system, that system would have a diameter of 5,584 millions of miles.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for million

million

/ (ˈmɪljən) /


nounplural -lions or -lion
  1. the cardinal number that is the product of 1000 multiplied by 1000: See also number (def. 1)

  2. a numeral, 1 000 000, 10 6, M, etc, representing this number

  1. (often plural) informal an extremely large but unspecified number, quantity, or amount: I have millions of things to do

determiner
  1. (preceded by a or by a numeral)

    • amounting to a million: a million light years away

    • (as pronoun): I can see a million under the microscope

  2. gone a million Australian informal done for; sunk

Origin of million

1
C17: via Old French from early Italian millione, from mille thousand, from Latin

Other words from million

  • Related prefix: mega-

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with million

million

see feel like oneself (a million dollars); look like a million dollars; one in a million.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.