NYT Dictionary

BILLION

/ˈbɪljən/
NumeralBIL-lionbil-lion · 2 syllablesGrade 9

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

Either of two large amounts:

Etymology

Origin: Latin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwís Proto-Italic *dwis Old Latin duis Latin bisder. French bi- Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂ Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- Proto-Indo-European *-lom Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslom ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂ Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéslih₂ Proto-Indo-European *smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ Proto-Italic *smīɣeslī Latin mīlle Italian mille Proto-Indo-European *-ōder. Proto-Indo-European *-Hōder.? Latin -ōnem Italian -one Italian milionebor. Old French million Middle French million French millionbf. French -illion French billionbor. English billion From French billion, equivalent to bi- (“two”) + -illion.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

milliardthousand milliontrillion[short scale]]>gazillionmilliontrillionzillionjillionbazilliongoogol

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 9 recorded puzzles:

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