billion
gb/bˈɪljən/ us/bˈɪljən/
A2
English
~ 2600
milliárd, ezer, rengeteg, ezerszer
NOUN
A2
1
milliárd
A2
Usage pattern:
[number] billion [things]
The company is worth over two billion dollars.
A cég több mint kétmilliárd dollárt ér.
There are more than seven billion people on Earth.
Több mint hétmilliárd ember él a Földön.
The project will cost about half a billion euros.
She inherited a billion pounds from her uncle.
By 2050, the population could reach ten billion.
Learner examples
China has more than one billion people.
Kínának több mint egymilliárd lakosa van.
The movie made two billion dollars.
A film kétmilliárd dolláros bevételt hozott.
He wants to give one billion to help poor people.
The company lost three billion last year.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'billion' with 'million', especially in pronunciation or when translating from languages that use different naming systems for large numbers.
Meaning
One thousand million (1,000,000,000)
Collocations
billion dollars
|billion people
|cost a billion
|worth billions
|lose billions
Synonyms
one thousand million (Alternative way of saying the same number; more common in some countries like the UK.)
Antonyms
million (A much smaller number, 1,000 times less than a billion.)
Themes
mathematics
|business
|science
|core_vocabulary
Definition
The number 1,000,000,000.
The number represented by 1 followed by nine zeros (1,000,000,000).
NOUN
B1
INFORMAL
2
Usage pattern:
a billion [things]
I've told you a billion times to clean your room.
Már ezerszer elmondtam neked, hogy takarítsd ki a szobádat.
There are billions of stars in our galaxy.
A galaxisunkban rengeteg csillag van.
She has a billion ideas for new projects.
We have a billion things to do before the trip.
Learner examples
I have told you a billion times.
Már ezerszer elmondtam neked.
There are billions of fish in the sea.
Rengeteg hal él a tengerben.
He has a billion games at home.
Common mistake:
Some learners may take the number literally instead of understanding it as exaggeration in informal speech.
Meaning
Very large but unspecified number
Collocations
a billion times
|billions of stars
|billions of reasons
Synonyms
zillions (More playful and exaggerated; always informal.)
Antonyms
few (Describes a small number, opposite of a large quantity.)
Themes
daily life
|core_vocabulary
Definition
A very large number, not exact.
An informal way to describe an extremely large quantity, not meant to be taken literally.
Grammar
Dictionary form
billion
IPA
GB/bˈɪljən/
US/bˈɪljən/
Syllables & stress
bil - lion (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (bil)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: billion
- Plural: billion, billions
Word family
Forms
billions
noun
Core family
billionaire
noun
billionth
adjective
Expressions
a billion times
1/ə bˈɪljən tˈaɪmz/
fixed phrase
informal
Exaggeratedly many repetitions
Said when something happens or is repeated many, many times.
Examples
- I’ve explained this a billion times already.
- She’s watched that movie a billion times.
billions of
1/bˈɪljənz əv/
fixed phrase
A very large quantity of something
A very large number or amount of something.
Examples
- Billions of stars can be seen in the night sky.
- The app has been downloaded billions of times.
cost a billion
1/kˈɔst ə bˈɪljən/
fixed phrase
Be priced at one billion currency units
To have a price of 1,000,000,000 in money.
Examples
- The stadium cost a billion dollars to build.
- That tech deal could cost a billion euros.