Etymologically
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million

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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