Etymologically
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millionaire

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /ˌmɪl.jəˈnɛɹ/, /ˈmɪl.jəˌnɛɹ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French millionnaire,[2][3][4][5] a noun recorded from the early 18th century or earlier (as millionaire) and an adjective from 1740,[2] formed from million and the suffix -aire.[2][6] Etymonline dates the French noun to 1762.[3] The French noun for a million is from Italian millione, an augmentative of mille (“thousand”), from Latin mīlle (“thousand”).[3][4] The OED compares the earlier noun and adjective millionary.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person whose wealth amounts to a million pounds, dollars or the like; a very rich person: 1795, in The Times.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1786,[5] Etymonline to 1821,[3] and the Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com to the early 19th century.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the first American to be called a millionaire is said to have been John Jacob Astor,[3] and Hendrickson writes that the word came from French in about 1820, when Astor was probably the first American it was applied to.[8] From 1864 the word was used as an adjective, of or like a millionaire.[2] In later use it is also applied more loosely to someone who earns a million a year.[2] Millionaires' Row, a street of very rich residents, is recorded from 1950.[9] In New Zealand, millionaire's salad is the edible heart of the nikau palm, so called because the whole tree dies when it is cut.[10]

Timeline

  • 1795 – a person worth a million pounds, dollars or the like.[2]
  • 1786 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.[5]
  • 1821 – Etymonline's first date.[3]
  • 1864 – adjective, having a million or more.[2]
  • 1950 – Millionaires' Row.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person whose assets are worth at least a million units of the local currency, such as pounds or dollars.
  2. Loosely, a very wealthy person.

Adjective

  1. Having assets of a million or more; of or typical of a millionaire.

Word family

  • millionairedom
  • millionairess
  • multimillionaire
  • nonmillionaire

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
  9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press