Milliard

Milliard

Milliard is a French-derived word meaning the number 1,000,000,000 (109; one thousand million; SI prefix giga). It is not used in American English and is rare in other forms of English - the preferred term being 'thousand million'. When South Africa adopted the metric system in 1971, "milliard" was recommended by the Metrication Board, but has often been ignored in practice. During the 20th century, the short scale "billion" superseded 'thousand million' to become the normal term in most of the English-speaking world.

"Milliard", or a version thereof, is common to many languages other than English, where a "billion" often refers to a thousand "milliard" - 1,000,000,000,000.

In financial markets, yard (derived from milliard) is still often used instead of "billion" in order to avoid ambiguity between "million" and "billion".

See also

* Long and short scales for a history of the term
* Names of large numbers
* Number names


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  • milliard — [ miljar ] n. m. • 1688; miliart 1544; de million, par changement de suff. ♦ Mille millions (109). Un milliard de milliards. ⇒ trillion. Deux milliards de dollars. Absolt Il est riche à milliards. ⇒ milliardaire. Approximatif Un très grand nombre …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • milliard — (n.) one thousand million, 1793, from Fr. milliard (16c.), from million (see MILLION (Cf. million)) with change of suffix …   Etymology dictionary

  • Milliard — Mil liard (F. m[ e]l y[.a]r ; E. m[i^]l l[i^]*[aum]rd), n. [F., from mille, mil, thousand, L. mille.] A thousand millions; usually called {billion} in the United States. See {Billion}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Milliard — (spr. milīār), N., franz. Politiker, geb. 1844, ließ sich in Paris als Advokat nieder, wurde 1887 in die Deputiertenkammer und 1890 in den Senat gewählt. Er schloß sich den gemäßigten Republikanern an und führte im Ministerium Méline das… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Milliard — Nom rencontré notamment dans l Eure, les Vosges et la Haute Marne. Voir Millard pour le sens …   Noms de famille

  • milliard — [mil′yərd, mil′yärd΄] [Fr < million (see MILLION) + ard (see ARD), orig., “large million”] n. Brit. 1,000 millions: now largely replaced by BILLION …   English World dictionary

  • Milliard — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Un milliard (1 000 000 000) désigne un nombre entier naturel. Ce nombre entier naturel suit neuf cent quatre vingt dix neuf millions neuf… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • milliard — (mi li ar ; le d ne se prononce et ne se lie jamais : un mi li ar entier ; au pluriel, l s ne se lie pas ; des mi li ar accumulés ; mais quelques uns la lient : des mi li ar z accumulés) s. m. Mille fois un million, ou dix fois cent millions ; c… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • milliardær — mil|liar|dær sb., en, er, erne, i sms. milliardær , fx milliardærarving …   Dansk ordbog

  • milliard — milijardas statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. billion; milliard vok. Milliarde, f rus. биллион, m; миллиард, m pranc. milliard, m …   Fizikos terminų žodynas

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