trillion

Forms

trillion m (plural trillions)^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French tri- + million, the prefix for three being added on the model of the older numeral.^[2][4][3][5] Wiktionary credits Jehan Adam with a form trimillion in 1475, before Nicolas Chuquet's tryllion of 1484.^[1] billion was coined at the same time.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicolas Chuquet's Triparty (1484) has it as tryllion, for 10¹⁸, a million to the third power.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

Because the word could name either 10¹² or 10¹⁸, the dictionaries give different first values: the TLFi dates the 10¹⁸ value to Chuquet, the GLLF puts the sense 10¹² first and dates 10¹⁸ to La Roche in 1520, and the Grand Robert glosses the 1484 use as 10¹⁵.^[2][7][4] Littré quotes La Roche's Arismetique: a trillion equals a thousand times a thousand billions.^[5] The modern spelling trillion is from the 16th century.^[7]

The ninth General Conference on Weights and Measures, meeting in Paris in 1948, recommended the value 10¹⁸ for all European countries, and the sense 10¹² is now dated.^[2][6][3]

Timeline

• 1475 – Jehan Adam writes trimillion.^[1]
• 1484 – Nicolas Chuquet's Triparty has tryllion.^[2][7]
• 1520 – La Roche's Arismetique uses it.^[7][5]
• 1948 – The General Conference on Weights and Measures fixes its value at 10¹⁸.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A quintillion, a billion billions (10¹⁸), the value used since 1948.^[3][2][8]
2. (dated) A thousand billions (10¹²), a trillion in the short scale.^[3][2][7]

Related words

• billion
• million
• quadrillion

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
3. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)