Etymologically
Log in

million

Etymology and origin of the French word million

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1266, Le Garçon et l'Aveugle (millon)
Borrowed from
Italian milione
Ultimate origin
Latin (mīlle)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mi.ljɔ̃/[1]

Forms

million m (plural millions)[2] Millon (1266), million (1359).[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian milione (“a thousand times a thousand”), recorded in the first half of the 14th century and formed on mille (“thousand”), of the same origin as French mille, with the augmentative suffix -one (see -on).[3][4][5][6][1] Bloch and Wartburg gloss the Italian word “a great thousand”.[6]

Compare Old Occitan milio, Catalan milió, Spanish millón and Portuguese milhão.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Le Garçon et l'Aveugle (1266) has millon for a thousand times a thousand, and million is in the Treaty of London (1359).[3]

Semantic evolution

By extension it has meant a very great number since about 1460 (ung million de joye), reinforced in mille millions de (1790).[3][4] It expresses great wealth in des millions and in phrases such as riche à millions (1762) and ne compter que par millions (1694).[4] After the Italian Il Milione it sometimes names Marco Polo's book.[4] Babeuf (1795) spoke scornfully of the rich as l'honorable million.[8] By changing the suffix, French made milliasse (1479) and milliard (1544), and on the model of Latin bi-, tri- the words billion and trillion (1484), which in the 16th century named numbers a thousand times larger than today.[6]

Timeline

  • 1266 – Millon.[3]
  • 1359 – Million.[3]
  • c. 1460 – “A very great number”.[3]
  • 1544 – Milliard.[6]
  • 1550 – Millionième.[4]
  • 1721 – Millionnaire.[4]
  • 1762 – Riche à millions.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A million: un million d'habitants, des millions d'euros.[5][1]
  2. (figurative) A huge number: des millions de fois.[3][4]
  3. A million (francs, euros…), a large fortune: gagner des millions, riche à millions.[4]

Word family

  • millionième
  • millionnaire
  • multimillionnaire
  • milliard
  • milliasse
  • mille
  • billion
  • trillion
  • Italian milione

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Million.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/million. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·