Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
gillion. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
gillion, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
gillion in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
gillion you have here. The definition of the word
gillion will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
gillion, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From gi(ga)- + -illion. Modelled after million, billion etc. Compare also jillion.
Pronunciation
- enPR: gĭl'yən, jĭl'yən; IPA(key): /ˈɡɪljən/, /ˈd͡ʒɪljən/
- Note: the pronunciation with either a hard or soft g is meant to correspond to how the speaker pronounces the initial g of giga-.
- Homophones: jillion, Gillian, Jillian (for "soft" g; the names may alternatively be trisyllabic /ˈdʒɪl.i.ən/)
- Rhymes: -ɪljən
Numeral
gillion
- (British, rare) A thousand million, proposed as an alternative to the (now little used) British milliard and the (ambiguous, in the UK) US billion.
1968, N. W. Pirie, More About the Units (Nature vol. 220):The internationally agreed symbol for 10^6 is M and this is the initial letter of million. Would it not be logical and convenient to turn this happy accident into a principle and use G, the internationally agreed symbol for 10^9, as the initial letter of the word for 1,000,000,000? That number would thus be called a gillion. Whether the g should be hard or soft is a matter of opinion. I incline to hard because of the derivation from giga.
Noun
gillion (plural gillions)
- (slang, hyperbolic) An unspecified large number (of).
2012, Rebecca Smith, A Bit of Earth:At Guy's school there had been an outdoor pool, in use from April to October, a watery grave for a billion insects, or quite possibly a gillion or a squillion. The bright turquoise lining had wrinkled under the children's feet.
2022, Frank Voss, My House Was Not a Home:I looked down to see my dog, Roof, short for Rufus, curled in sleep below the window, unworried by the wings of hummingbirds whirring at speeds of a gillion miles an hour as they flitted in and out of the trumpets of honeysuckle growing on the side of the house.
Synonyms