billionaire English · revision 39750

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1841, Athenæum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˌbɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˌbɪl.jəˈnɛɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed in English on [[billion]] with the suffix [[-aire]], after [[millionaire]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) The OED compares [[fr|billionnaire]], recorded slightly earlier, in 1839, but rare, the usual French word being [[m|fr|milliardaire]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person whose assets are worth a billion dollars, pounds or other units: 1841, in the ''Athenæum'',^(OED 2026) 1844 in American English according to Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Dictionary.com dates it to 1855–60 and marks it as an Americanism.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because ''billion'' long meant a million times a million in Britain but a thousand million in the United States, the value implied by the word depended on the country.^(OED 2026) The Century Dictionary still marked it as rare in 1902,^(Etymonline) and Etymonline thinks the first American billionaire was probably John D. Rockefeller, some time after the First World War.^(Etymonline) The word is also used loosely for anyone extremely wealthy,^(OED 2026) and as an adjective, as in ''billionaire investor'', from 1865.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1839 – ''billionnaire'' in French.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1841 – a person worth a billion.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1844 – American English use.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1865 – adjective use.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1902 – marked rare in the Century Dictionary.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person whose [[asset|alt=assets]] are worth at least a [[billion]] dollars, pounds or other units of currency.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Loosely, an extremely [[wealthy]] person.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[millionaire]]

+ * [[billion]]

+ * [[million]]

+ * [[trillionaire]]

+ * [[multimillionaire]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}