Names of numbers larger than a quadrillion are almost never used, for reasons discussed further below. It is debatable which of them should be considered real working English vocabulary and which are merely trivia, curiosities, or coinages. The following table lists those names of numbers which are found in many English dictionaries and thus have a special claim to being "real words". The "Traditional British" values shown are unused in American English and are largely obsolete in British English, but are dominant in many non-English-speaking areas, including continental Europe and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America; see Long and short scales. Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French
| Name | Short scale (USA and Modern British) | Long scale (Continental Europe and/or Traditional British) | Authorities | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHD4[1] | COD[2] | OED2[3] | OEDnew[4] | RHD2[5] | SOED3[6] | W3[7] | UM[8] | |||
| million | 106 | 106 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| milliard | 109 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| billion | 109 | 1012 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| billiard | 1015 | [9] | [9] | ✓ | ||||||
| trillion | 1012 | 1018 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| trilliard | 1021 | [9] | [9] | [9] | ✓ | |||||
| quadrillion | 1015 | 1024 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| quintillion | 1018 | 1030 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| sextillion | 1021 | 1036 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| septillion | 1024 | 1042 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| octillion | 1027 | 1048 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| nonillion | 1030 | 1054 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| decillion | 1033 | 1060 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| undecillion | 1036 | 1066 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| duodecillion | 1039 | 1072 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| tredecillion | 1042 | 1078 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| quattuordecillion | 1045 | 1084 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| quindecillion (quinquadecillion) | 1048 | 1090 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| sexdecillion (sedecillion) | 1051 | 1096 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| septendecillion | 1054 | 10102 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| octodecillion | 1057 | 10108 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| novemdecillion (novendecillion) | 1060 | 10114 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| vigintillion | 1063 | 10120 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| googol | 10100 | 10100 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| centillion | 10303 | 10600 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| googolplex | 10googol | 1010100 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Apart from million, the words in this list ending with -illion are all derived by adding Latin prefixes (bi-, tri-, etc. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French The word million In standard English, the -lli- in million is pronounced with an l-sound followed by a Milliard is a French -derived word meaning the number 1000000000 (109 one thousand million SI prefix Giga) A googol is the Large number 10100 that is the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros (in Decimal representation A googol is the Large number 10100 that is the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros (in Decimal representation ) to the stem -illion. [10] Centillion[11] appears to be the highest name ending in -"illion" that is included in these dictionaries. Trigintillion, often cited as a word in discussions of names of large numbers, is not included in any of them, nor are any of the names that can easily be created by extending the naming pattern (unvigintillion, duovigintillion, duoquinquagintillion, etc. ).
All of the dictionaries included googol and googolplex, generally crediting it to the Kasner and Newman book and to Kasner's nephew. None include any higher names in the googol family (googolduplex, etc. ). The Oxford English Dictionary comments that googol and googolplex are "not in formal mathematical use".
Some large numbers have real referents in human experience, and their names are encountered in many contexts. A number is an Abstract object, tokens of which are Symbols used in Counting and measuring. For example, on one day in 2004, Google News showed 78 600 hits on billion, starting with "Turkey Repays USD 1. 6 Billion In Foreign Debt". It showed 9870 hits on trillion and 56 on quadrillion: for example, "The US Department of Energy reports that in 2002, the United States economy consumed 97. 6 quadrillion BTUs (quad BTUs). "
Names of larger numbers, however, have a tenuous, artificial existence. Although they may be found in dictionaries, these names are rarely found outside definitions, lists, and discussions of the ways in which large numbers are named. Even well-established names like sextillion are rarely used, since in the contexts of science, astronomy, and engineering, where large numbers often occur, numbers are usually written using scientific notation. Scientific notation, also sometimes known as standard form or as exponential notation, is a way of writing numbers that accommodates values too large or small to be In this notation, used since the 1800s, powers of ten are expressed as 10 with a numeric superscript, e. g. , "The X-ray emission of the radio galaxy is 1. 3·1045 ergs. " When a number such as 1045 needs to be referred to in words, it is simply read out: "ten to the forty-fifth. " This is just as easy to say, easier to understand, and less ambiguous than "quattuordecillion" (which means something different in the long scale and the short scale). When a number represents a quantity rather than a count, SI prefixes can be used; one says "femtosecond", not "one quadrillionth of a second", although often powers of ten are used instead of some of the very high and very low prefixes. An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol to form a Decimal multiple or In some cases, specialized units are used, such as the astronomer's parsec and light year or the particle physicist's barn. History The first direct measurements of an object at interstellar distances were undertaken by German Astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in 1838 A light-year or light year (symbol ly) is a unit of Length, equal to just under ten trillion Kilometres As defined by A barn (symbol b) is a unit of Area. While the barn is not an SI unit it is accepted (although discouraged for use with the SI
Nevertheless, large numbers have an intellectual fascination and are of mathematical interest, and giving them names is one of the ways in which people try to conceptualize and understand them.
One of the first examples of this is The Sand Reckoner, in which Archimedes gave a system for naming large numbers. The Sand Reckoner ( Greek: Ψαμμίτης Psammites) is a work by Archimedes in which he set out to determine an upper bound for the number Archimedes of Syracuse ( Greek:) ( c. 287 BC – c 212 BC was a Greek mathematician, Physicist, Engineer To do this, he called the numbers up to a myriad myriad (108) "first numbers" and called 108 itself the "unit of the second numbers". Multiples of this unit then became the second numbers, up to this unit taken a myriad myriad times, 108·108=1016. This became the "unit of the third numbers", whose multiples were the third numbers, and so on. Archimedes continued naming numbers in this way up to a myriad myriad times the unit of the 108-th numbers, i. e. ,
and embedded this construction within another copy of itself to produce names for numbers up to
Archimedes then estimated the number of grains of sand that would be required to fill the known Universe, and found that it was no more than "one thousand myriad of the eighth numbers" (1063. )
Since then, many others have engaged in the pursuit of conceptualizing and naming numbers that really have no existence outside of the imagination. One motivation for such a pursuit is that attributed to the inventor of the word googol, who was certain that any finite number "had to have a name". Another possible motivation is competition between students in computer programming courses, where a common exercise is that of writing a program to output numbers in the form of English words.
It should be noted, too, that most names proposed for large numbers belong to systematic schemes which are extensible. Thus, many names for large numbers are simply the result of following a naming system to its logical conclusion—or extending it further.
In this article, we present some names that have been given to large numbers, and the context and authority for the names. These numbers are almost pure mathematical abstractions, not physical realities. The names for such numbers are very rarely used. They may have a claim staked out for them in reference books, but they remain more in the nature of curiosities, trivia, or mathematical recreation than genuine working English vocabulary.
The words bymillion and trimillion were first recorded in 1475 in a manuscript of Jehan Adam. Jehan Adam was a French mathematician who flourished in the 15th century Subsequently, Nicolas Chuquet wrote a book Triparty en la science des nombres which was not published during Chuquet's lifetime. Nicolas Chuquet (1445 but some sources say c 1455 &ndash 1488 some sources say c However, most of it was copied by Estienne de La Roche for a portion of his 1520 book, L'arismetique. Estienne de La Roche (1470-1530 was a French Mathematician. Sometimes known as Estienne de Villefranche La Roche was born in Lyon, but his family Estienne de La Roche (1470-1530 was a French Mathematician. Sometimes known as Estienne de Villefranche La Roche was born in Lyon, but his family Chuquet's book contains a passage in which he shows a large number marked off into groups of six digits, with the comment:
Ou qui veult le premier point peult signiffier million Le second point byllion Le tiers poit tryllion Le quart quadrillion Le cinqe quyllion Le sixe sixlion Le sept. e septyllion Le huyte ottyllion Le neufe nonyllion et ainsi des ault's se plus oultre on vouloit preceder
(Or if you prefer the first mark can signify million, the second mark byllion, the third mark tryllion, the fourth quadrillion, the fifth quyillion, the sixth sixlion, the seventh septyllion, the eighth ottyllion, the ninth nonyllion and so on with others as far as you wish to go).
Chuquet is sometimes credited with inventing the names million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, and so forth. This is an oversimplification.
Adam and Chuquet used the long scale of powers of a million; that is, Adam's bymillion (Chuquet's byllion) denoted 1012, and Adam's trimillion (Chuquet's tryllion) denoted 1018. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French
An easy way to find the value of the above numbers in the short scale is to take the number indicated by the prefix (such as 2 in billion, 4 in quadrillion, 18 in octodecillion, etc. ), add one to it, and multiply that result by 3. For example, in a trillion, the prefix is tri, meaning 3. Adding 1 to it gives 4. Now multiplying 4 by 3 gives us 12, which is the power to which 10 is to be raised to express a short-scale trillion in scientific notation: one trillion = 1012.
In the long scales, this is done simply by multiplying the number from the prefix by 6. For example, in a billion, the prefix is bi, meaning 2. Multiplying 2 by 6 gives us 12, which is the power to which 10 is to be raised to express a long-scale billion in scientific notation: one billion = 1012.
These mechanisms are illustrated in the table in long and short scales. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French
The names googol and googolplex were invented by Edward Kasner's nephew, Milton Sirotta, and introduced in Kasner and Newman's 1940 book, Mathematics and the Imagination,[13] in the following passage:
Words of wisdom are spoken by children at least as often as by scientists. Edward Kasner (1878&ndash1955 ( City College of New York 1897 Columbia University M The name "googol" was invented by a child (Dr. Kasner's nine-year-old nephew) who was asked to think up a name for a very big number, namely 1 with a hundred zeroes after it. He was very certain that this number was not infinite, and therefore equally certain that it had to have a name. At the same time that he suggested "googol" he gave a name for a still larger number: "Googolplex". A googolplex is much larger than a googol, but is still finite, as the inventor of the name was quick to point out. It was first suggested that a googolplex should be 1, followed by writing zeros until you got tired. This is a description of what would actually happen if one actually tried to write a googolplex, but different people get tired at different times and it would never do to have Carnera a better mathematician than Dr. Einstein, simply because he had more endurance. This article is about the historical boxer for the wrestler having same nickname see Primo Carnera. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical The googolplex is, then, a specific finite number, with so many zeros after the 1 that the number of zeros is a googol.
| Value | Name | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 10100 | Googol | Kasner and Newman, dictionaries (see above) |
10googol = ![]() | Googolplex | Kasner and Newman, dictionaries (see above) |
Conway and Guy [14] have suggested that N-plex be used as a name for 10N. A googol is the Large number 10100 that is the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros (in Decimal representation This gives rise to the name googolplexplex for 10googolplex; however, the word googolplexian is given by one site. In addition, the terms googolduplex, googoltriplex, etc. have been coined by various persons for the numbers 10googolplex, 10googolduplex, etc. Conway and Guy [14] have proposed that N-minex be used as a name for 10-N, giving rise to the name googolminex for the reciprocal of a googolplex. In Mathematics, a multiplicative inverse for a number x, denoted by 1&frasl x or x &minus1 is a number which None of these names are in wide use, nor are any currently found in dictionaries.
This table illustrates several systems for naming large numbers, and shows how they can be extended past decillion.
Traditional British usage assigned new names for each power of one million (the long scale): 1,000,000 = 1 million; 1,000,0002 = 1 billion; 1,000,0003 = 1 trillion; and so on. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French It was adapted from French usage, and is similar to the system that was documented or invented by Chuquet. Nicolas Chuquet (1445 but some sources say c 1455 &ndash 1488 some sources say c
Traditional American usage (which, oddly enough, was also adapted from French usage but at a later date), and modern British usage, assigns new names for each power of one thousand (the short scale. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French ) Thus, a billion is 1000 × 10002 = 109; a trillion is 1000 × 10003 = 1012; and so forth. Due to its dominance in the financial world (and by the US-dollar) this was adopted for official United Nations documents. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security
Traditional French usage has varied; in 1948, France, which had been using the short scale, reverted to the long scale.
The term milliard is unambiguous and always means 109. It is almost never seen in American usage, rarely in British usage, and frequently in European usage. The term is sometimes attributed to a French mathematician named Jacques Peletier du Mans circa 1550 (for this reason, the long scale is also known as the Chuquet-Peletier system), but the Oxford English Dictionary states that the term derives from post-Classical Latin term milliartum, which became milliare and then milliart and finally our modern term. Jacques Peletier du Mans (1517 Le Mans – 1582 Paris) was a humanist, Poet and Mathematician of the French Renaissance Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.
With regard to names ending in -illiard for numbers 106·n+3, milliard is certainly in widespread use in languages other than English, but the degree of actual use of the larger terms is questionable. For example, as of 2004, Google searches on French-language pages for trillion, quadrillion, and quintillion return 6630, 312, and 127 hits respectively, whilst searches for trilliard and quadrilliard return only 102 and 7 hits respectively. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " However, one has to take into account that these large numbers are not often needed and that scientists almost always use scientific notation. In German the terms "Milliarde", "Billiarde" etc. are out of question.
The naming procedure for large numbers is based on taking the number n occurring in 103n+3 (short scale) or 106n (long scale) and concatenating Latin roots for its units, tens, and hundreds place, together with the suffix -illion. In this way, numbers up to 103·999+3 = 103000 (short scale) or 106·999 = 105994 (long scale) may be named. The choice of roots and the concatenation procedure is that of the standard dictionary numbers if n is 20 or smaller, and, for larger n (between 21 and 999), is due to John Horton Conway and Richard Guy. John Horton Conway (born December 26, 1937, Liverpool, England) is a prolific mathematician active in the theory of finite groups Richard Kenneth Guy (born 1916 Nuneaton, Warwickshire) is a British mathematician Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics Since the system of using Latin prefixes will become ambiguous for numbers with exponents of a size which the Romans rarely counted to, like 106,000,258, Conway and Guy have also proposed a consistent set of conventions which permit, in principle, the extension of this system to provide English names for any integer whatsoever. [14]
Names of reciprocals of large numbers do not need to be listed here, because they are regularly formed by adding -th, e. g. quattuordecillionth, centillionth, etc.
For additional details, see Billion (disambiguation) and long and short scales. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French
| Base -illion (short scale) | Value | U. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world Short scale is the English translation of the French S. (short scale) | Traditional British (long scale) | Traditional European (Peletier) (long scale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 106 | Million | Million | Million |
| 2 | 109 | Billion | Thousand million | Milliard |
| 3 | 1012 | Trillion | Billion | Billion |
| 4 | 1015 | Quadrillion | Thousand billion | Billiard |
| 5 | 1018 | Quintillion | Trillion | Trillion |
| 6 | 1021 | Sextillion | Thousand trillion | Trilliard |
| 7 | 1024 | Septillion | Quadrillion | Quadrillion |
| 8 | 1027 | Octillion | Thousand quadrillion | Quadrilliard |
| 9 | 1030 | Nonillion | Quintillion | Quintillion |
| 10 | 1033 | Decillion | Thousand quintillion | Quintilliard |
| 11 | 1036 | Undecillion | Sextillion | Sextillion |
| 12 | 1039 | Duodecillion | Thousand sextillion | Sextilliard |
| 13 | 1042 | Tredecillion | Septillion | Septillion |
| 14 | 1045 | Quattuordecillion | Thousand septillion | Septilliard |
| 15 | 1048 | Quindecillion | Octillion | Octillion |
| 16 | 1051 | Sexdecillion | Thousand octillion | Octilliard |
| 17 | 1054 | Septendecillion | Nonillion | Nonillion |
| 18 | 1057 | Octodecillion | Thousand nonillion | Nonilliard |
| 19 | 1060 | Novemdecillion | Decillion | Decillion |
| 20 | 1063 | Vigintillion | Thousand decillion | Decilliard |
| 21 | 1066 | Unvigintillion | Undecillion | Undecillion |
| 22 | 1069 | Duovigintillion | Thousand undecillion | Undecilliard |
| 23 | 1072 | Tresvigintillion | Duodecillion | Duodecillion |
| 24 | 1075 | Quattuorvigintillion | Thousand duodecillion | Duodecilliard |
| 25 | 1078 | Quinquavigintillion | Tredecillion | Tredecillion |
| 26 | 1081 | Sesvigintillion | Thousand tredecillion | Tredecilliard |
| 27 | 1084 | Septemvigintillion | Quattuordecillion | Quattuordecillion |
| 28 | 1087 | Octovigintillion | Thousand quattuordecillion | Quattuordecilliard |
| 29 | 1090 | Novemvigintillion | Quindecillion | Quindecillion |
| 30 | 1093 | Trigintillion | Thousand quindecillion | Quindecilliard |
| 31 | 1096 | Untrigintillion | Sexdecillion | Sexdecillion |
| 32 | 1099 | Duotrigintillion | Thousand sexdecillion | Sexdecilliard |
| N/A | 10100 | Ten duotrigintillion | Ten thousand sexdecillion | Ten sexdecilliard |
| 33 | 10102 | Trestrigintillion | Septendecillion | Septendecillion |
| 34 | 10105 | Quattuortrigintillion | Thousand septendecillion | Septendecilliard |
| 35 | 10108 | Quinquatrigintillion | Octodecillion | Octodecillion |
| 36 | 10111 | Sestrigintillion | Thousand octodecillion | Octodecilliard |
| 37 | 10114 | Septentrigintillion | Novemdecillion | Novemdecillion |
| 38 | 10117 | Octotrigintillion | Thousand novemdecillion | Novemdecilliard |
| 39 | 10120 | Noventrigintillion | Vigintillion | Vigintillion |
| 40 | 10123 | Quadragintillion[15] | Thousand vigintillion | Vigintilliard |
| 50 | 10153 | Quinquagintillion | Thousand quinquavigintillion | Quinquavigintilliard |
| 60 | 10183 | Sexagintillion | Thousand trigintillion | Trigintilliard |
| 70 | 10213 | Septuagintillion | Thousand quinquatrigintillion | Quinquatrigintilliard |
| 80 | 10243 | Octogintillion | Thousand quadragintillion | Quadragintilliard |
| 90 | 10273 | Nonagintillion | Thousand quinquaquadragintillion | Quinquaquadragintilliard |
| 100 | 10303 | Centillion | Thousand quinquagintillion | Quinquagintilliard |
| 101 | 10306 | Uncentillion | Unquinquagintillion | Unquinquagintillion |
| 102 | 10309 | Duocentillion | Thousand unquinquagintillion | Unquinquagintilliard |
| 103 | 10312 | Trescentillion | Duoquinquagintillion | Duoquinquagintillion |
| 110 | 10333 | Decicentillion | Thousand quinquaquinquagintillion | Quinquaquinquagintilliard |
| 121 | 10366 | Unviginticentillion | Unsexagintillion | Unsexagintillion |
| 130 | 10393 | Trigintacentillion | Thousand quinquasexagintillion | Quinquasexagintilliard |
| 140 | 10423 | Quadragintacentillion | Thousand septuagintillion | Septuagintilliard |
| 150 | 10453 | Quinquagintacentillion | Thousand quinquaseptuagintillion | Quinquaseptuagintilliard |
| 160 | 10483 | Sexagintacentillion | Thousand octogintillion | Octogintilliard |
| 170 | 10513 | Septuagintacentillion | Thousand quinquaoctogintillion | Quinquaoctogintilliard |
| 180 | 10543 | Octogintacentillion | Thousand nonagintillion | Nonagintilliard |
| 190 | 10573 | Nonagintacentillion | Thousand quinquanonagintillion | Quinquanonagintilliard |
| 200 | 10603 | Ducentillion | Thousand centillion | Centilliard |
| 300 | 10903 | Trecentillion | Thousand quinquagintacentillion | Quinquagintacentilliard |
| 400 | 101203 | Quadringentillion | Thousand ducentillion | Ducentilliard |
| 500 | 101503 | Quingentillion | Thousand quinquagintaducentillion | Quinquagintaducentilliard |
| 600 | 101803 | Sescentillion | Thousand trecentillion | Trecentilliard |
| 700 | 102103 | Septingentillion | Thousand quinquagintatrecentillion | Quinquagintatrecentilliard |
| 800 | 102403 | Octingentillion | Thousand quadringentillion | Quadringentilliard |
| 900 | 102703 | Nongentillion | Thousand quinquagintaquadringentillion | Quinquagintaquadringentilliard |
| 1000 | 103003 | Millillion | Thousand quingentillion | Quingentilliard |
| 1010100 | Googolplex | |||