ENGLISH
REFERENCE

million

n.
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈmɪɫjən// UK //mˈɪliən// mil·lion General-service Informal

n. the number 1,000,000. You use it to talk about a very large amount of people or things.

n. the cardinal number equal to ten to the power of six. Often used hyperbolically in informal speech to indicate an indefinitely large quantity.


SIMPLE

The city has a population of over one million.

CONTEXTUAL

The charity raised more than a million dollars to build the new children's hospital.

COMPLEX

Even with a million stars visible in the night sky, the sheer scale of the galaxy remains difficult for the human mind to comprehend fully.

Synonyms
Origin

From Old French, from Italian milione (“million”, from mille (“thousand”, from Latin mille) + -one). Compare -illion.

Usage

When used as a specific number, it remains singular ('two million'); it becomes plural ('millions') when used as an indefinite large amount followed by 'of'.

Pitfall

three millions peoplethree million peopleWhen used with a specific number, 'million' acts as a determiner and does not take a plural 's'.

Idioms3 entries

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