Meanings
plural trillions
- Either of two large amounts:
- AustraliaUKUSmodernshort scaleA million (times a) million: 1 followed by twelve zeros, 10¹².
Javik: Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. Their silence is your answer.
2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3: From Ashes (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Normandy SR-22 more examples
Data published by the Treasury Department showed that “total public debt outstanding” rose to $34.001 trillion on December 29.
2024 January 3, Hanna Ziady, Tami Luhby, “US national debt hits record $34 trillion”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2024As President Donald Trump prepares to order the dismantling of the Department of Education, the financial arm of the agency – which makes loans directly to borrowers and manages trillions of dollars in student debt – faces an uncertain future, with steep staff cuts and lack of communication exacerbating the uncertainty, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former department employees.
2025 March 7, Kayla Tausche, “Dismantling of Education Department puts future of trillions of dollars in student loans in question”, in CNN, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2025Synonyms: billion[long scale]]>
- AustraliaUKdatedlong scaleA million (times a) million (times a) million: 1 followed by eighteen zeros, 10¹⁸.
Synonyms: quintillion
- colloquialexcessiveAn unspecified very large number.
There were trillions of people at the concert.
1 more example
Near-synonyms: gazillion; see also Thesaurus:zillion
Synonyms: gazillion
plural trillions
- slangball gamesA statistic formed by a player playing some number of minutes, but recording no stats.
Synonyms & antonyms
numeralA million (times a) million: 1 followed by twelve zeros, 10¹².
numeralA million (times a) million (times a) million: 1 followed by eighteen zeros, 10¹⁸.
numeralAn unspecified very large number.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveone quintillion in Great Britain
adjectiveone million million in the United States
nouna very large indefinite number (usually hyperbole)
nounthe number that is represented as a one followed by 18 zeros in the UK
nounthe number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchtrillion
- Englishtrillion
Borrowed from French trillion, from French tri- (“three”) + -illion, equivalent to tri- + -illion. The noun was coined by American basketball player Harvey Pollack, because of the way the numbers read across a basketball box score.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans biljoen
- biljoena million million, 1012 — see also billion
Arabic بِلْيُون, تِرِيلِيُون
- بِلْيُون (bilyūn)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
- تِرِيلِيُون (tirīliyūn)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
- تِرِيلِْيُون (tirīliyūn)a million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Bulgarian трилио́н
- трилио́н (trilión)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Catalan bilió, trilió
- bilióa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilióa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Chinese Mandarin 萬億 /万亿, 兆
- 萬億 /万亿 (wànyì)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
- 兆 (zhào)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Czech bilión, trilión
- bilióna million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilióna million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Dutch biljoen, triljoen
- biljoena million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triljoena million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Esperanto biliono, duiliono
- bilionoa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- duilionoa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triilionoa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Estonian biljon, triljon
- biljona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triljona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Finnish biljoona, triljoona
- biljoonaa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triljoonaa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
French billion, mille milliards
- billiona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- mille milliardsa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilliona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
German Billion, Trillion
- Billiona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- Trilliona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Greek τρισεκατομμύριο
- τρισεκατομμύριο (trisekatommýrio)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Hindi महापद्म
- महापद्म (mahāpadma)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Hungarian billió
- billióa million million, 1012 — see also billion
Indonesian triliun, biliun
- triliuna million million, 1012 — see also billion
- biliuna million million, 1012 — see also billion
Italian bilione, trilione
- bilionea million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilionea million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Japanese 兆
- 兆 (chō)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Korean 조, 만억
- 조 (jo)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
- 만억 (maneok)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Malay trilion
- triliona million million, 1012 — see also billion
Māori tiriona
- tirionaa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Persian تریلیون
- تریلیون (terilyon)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Polish bilion, trylion
- biliona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- tryliona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Portuguese bilião, trilhão
- biliãoa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilhãoa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triliãoa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
- quintilhãoa million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Romanian bilion, trilion
- biliona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triliona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Russian триллио́н, квинтиллио́н
- триллио́н (trillión)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
- квинтиллио́н (kvintillión)a million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Slovak bilión, trilión
- bilióna million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trilióna million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Spanish billón, trillón
- billóna million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trillóna million million, 1012 — see also billion
- trillóna million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Swahili trilioni
- trilionia million million, 1012 — see also billion
Swedish biljon, triljon
- biljona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- triljona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Tagalog trilyon
- trilyona million million, 1012 — see also billion
Turkish trilyon, kentilyon
- trilyona million million, 1012 — see also billion
- kentilyona million million million, 1018 — see also quintillion
Ukrainian трильйо́н
- трильйо́н (trylʹjón)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Vietnamese nghìn tỉ, ngàn tỉ
- nghìn tỉa million million, 1012 — see also billion
- ngàn tỉa million million, 1012 — see also billion
Welsh triliwn
- triliwna million million, 1012 — see also billion
Yiddish ביליאָן
- ביליאָן (bilyon)a million million, 1012 — see also billion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with trillion
Cite this entry
trillion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trillion
“trillion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trillion. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trillion,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trillion.
Source: trillion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.