Hi PM: We may want to get familiarized with the names of large numbers.
en.wikipedia.org
This article lists and discusses the usage and derivation of names of large numbers, together with their possible extensions.
The following table lists those names of large numbers that are found in many English dictionaries and thus have a special claim to being "real words". The "Traditional British" values shown are unused in American English and are becoming rare in British English, but their other-language variants are dominant in many non-English-speaking areas, including continental Europe and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America; see Long and short scales.
English also has many words, such as "zillion", used informally to mean large but unspecified amounts; see indefinite and fictitious numbers.
Standard dictionary numbers[ edit]Name Short scale
(U.S., some parts of Canada, and
modern British) Long scale
(continental Europe,
older British, and some parts of Canada)AuthoritiesAHD4 [1]CED [2]COD [3]OED2 [4]OEDnew [5]RHD2 [6]SOED3 [7]W3 [8]UM [9]|
|
| Million | 106 | 106 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Milliard | | 109 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | | | ? | | Billion | 109 | 1012 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Trillion | 1012 | 1018 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Quadrillion | 1015 | 1024 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Quintillion | 1018 | 1030 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Sextillion | 1021 | 1036 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Septillion | 1024 | 1042 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Octillion | 1027 | 1048 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Nonillion | 1030 | 1054 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Decillion | 1033 | 1060 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Undecillion | 1036 | 1066 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Duodecillion | 1039 | 1072 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Tredecillion | 1042 | 1078 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Quattuordecillion | 1045 | 1084 | ? | | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Quindecillion | 1048 | 1090 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Sexdecillion (Sedecillion) | 1051 | 1096 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Septendecillion | 1054 | 10102 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Octodecillion | 1057 | 10108 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Novemdecillion (Novendecillion) | 1060 | 10114 | ? | ? | | | | ? | | ? | ? | | Vigintillion | 1063 | 10120 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | Centillion | 10303 | 10600 | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | | | ? |
Apart from million, the words in this list ending with -illion are all derived by adding prefixes (bi-, tri-, etc., derived from Latin) to the stem -illion. [10] Centillion [11] appears to be the highest name ending in -"illion" that is included in these dictionaries. Trigintillion, often cited as a word in discussions of names of large numbers, is not included in any of them, nor are any of the names that can easily be created by extending the naming pattern (unvigintillion, duovigintillion, duoquinquagintillion, etc.).
NameValueAuthoritiesAHD4CEDCODOED2OEDnewRHD2SOED3W3UMAll of the dictionaries included googol and googolplex, generally crediting it to the Kasner and Newman book and to Kasner's nephew. None include any higher names in the googol family (googolduplex, etc.). The Oxford English Dictionary comments that googol andgoogolplex are "not in formal mathematical use".
Usage of names of large numbers[ edit]Some names of large numbers, such as million, billion, and trillion, have real referents in human experience, and are encountered in many contexts. At times, the names of large numbers have been forced into common usage as a result of hyperinflation. The highest numerical value banknote ever printed was a note for 1 sextillion pengo (1021 or 1 milliard bilpengo as printed) printed in Hungary in 1946. In 2009, Zimbabwe printed a 100 trillion (1014) Zimbabwean dollar note, which at the time of printing was worth about US$30. [12]
Names of larger numbers, however, have a tenuous, artificial existence, rarely found outside definitions, lists, and discussions of the ways in which large numbers are named. Even well-established names like sextillion are rarely used, since in the contexts of science, astronomy, and engineering, where such large numbers often occur, they are nearly always written using scientific notation. In this notation, powers of ten are expressed as 10 with a numeric superscript, e.g., "The X-ray emission of the radio galaxy is1.3×1045 ergs." When a number such as 1045 needs to be referred to in words, it is simply read out: "ten to the forty-fifth". This is just as easy to say, easier to understand, and less ambiguous than "quattuordecillion", which means something different in the long scale and the short scale. |
