trillion

/ˈtrɪljən/

/ˈtrɪljɪn/

Other forms: trillions

A trillion is 1,000,000,000,000, also known as 10 to the 12th power, or one million million. It’s such a large number it’s hard to get your head around it, so sometimes trillion just means “wow, a lot.”

A trillion is bigger than a million, more than a billion, it’s 1,000,000,000,000 (and even or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 in some countries). (Yes, those are 18 zeroes in that last one.) Either way, this is such a large number that it's hard to imagine. Maybe that's why people often use this word in a looser sense, as in "I have a trillion reasons why I like this band!" That meaning is similar to gazillion, bazillion, and zillion, which aren't real numbers.

Definitions of trillion

1. noun

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros
   “in England they call a trillion a billion”

   synonyms: 1000000000000, one million million

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
2. noun

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 18 zeros
   “in England they call a quintillion a trillion”

   synonyms: one million million million

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
3. noun

   a very large indefinite number (usually used as an exaggeration)
   synonyms: bazillion, billion, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, zillion

   type of:

   large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity

   an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude
4. adjective

   one million million in the United States
   synonyms:

   cardinal

   being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
5. adjective

   one quintillion in Great Britain
   synonyms:

   cardinal

   being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order