Word
trillion
Phoneticstril·lion
US/ˈtɹɪɫjən/
UK/tɹˈɪliən/
Definitions
01the number 1,000,000,000,000
num. the number 1,000,000,000,000, which is a million million.
num. the cardinal number 10 to the power of 12, following the short scale convention now standard in both British and American English.
“The government spent over a trillion dollars on the new infrastructure project last year.”
“Economists warned that the national debt had surpassed thirty trillion dollars, sparking intense debate over long-term fiscal sustainability.”
Usage
Used as a cardinal number; it remains singular when preceded by a specific number but takes an 's' in the phrase 'trillions of'.
02an incredibly large amount
n. a word you use when you want to say there is a huge, uncountable number of something.
n. a hyperbolic term used to denote an unspecified, extremely large quantity.
“I have a trillion things to do before we leave for our holiday tomorrow.”
“She felt as though she had a trillion different thoughts racing through her mind as she waited for the interview to begin.”
Informal
Teaching tip
This is purely hyperbolic; learners should use it only in casual speech to show exaggeration.
Synonyms
03basketball slang
n. a joke in basketball for a player who plays for a few minutes but does nothing else on the stat sheet.
n. a box score entry where a player records minutes played followed by zeros in all other statistical categories, resembling the digit one followed by twelve zeros.
“He played for two minutes but finished with a trillion in the box score.”
“The benchwarmer's only contribution to the game was a five-minute trillion, failing to record a single point, rebound, or assist before being subbed out.”
Slang · American English
Real-World Examples
“Goldman Sachs projects it to grow to half a trillion dollars within the next few years.” Etymology
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/trillion