Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
millard
English translation:
billion (US and UK)
Dec 5, 2000 07:46
23 yrs ago
French term
British "billion" vs. US "billion" (false cognates)?
Non-PRO
French to English
Bus/Financial
A French-speaking contractor is trying to tell me (with insistance) that a British billion = 1,000,000,000,000 (a US trillion) and that a UK trillion = a US "quintillion". Curiously, this is also what the Larousse CD-ROM says (erroneously?).
Can a "real" British English speaker please confirm the truth/nonsense to this? Can you also confirm that, although they may very well say "1,000 million" for "billion" in the UK, these are just synonyms and that a UK billion is the same as a US billion, or 1,000,000,000?
Can a "real" British English speaker please confirm the truth/nonsense to this? Can you also confirm that, although they may very well say "1,000 million" for "billion" in the UK, these are just synonyms and that a UK billion is the same as a US billion, or 1,000,000,000?
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
7 mins
Evert DELOOF-SYS
Belgium
Belgium
Belgium
Seasoned linguist
Native in: Dutch 
, Flemish
Works in: English to Dutch, French to Dutch, Dutch to English, and 31 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
287
Selected
A UK billion = US billion even
though I prefer a billion UK £ now (lousy joke)
1.000.000.000 = 1000 millions = 1 billion (sometimes in (UK) English also 1 milliard, as in '1 miljard' (Dutch) and 1 milliard in French,...); it simply doesn't matter where you live, a billion is a billion etc
1.000.000.000 = 1000 millions = 1 billion (sometimes in (UK) English also 1 milliard, as in '1 miljard' (Dutch) and 1 milliard in French,...); it simply doesn't matter where you live, a billion is a billion etc
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Although it was quite interesting to hear from Claire that some British speakers still think of a billion as a million millions (and indeed this used to be the case, hence the dictionary entries), I was since able to confirm with the Financial Times and the Economist style manuals that today's UK billion is still only a 1000 millions (or, one US billion too), at least in the British business press. Thanks!"
12 mins
Glen McCulley
Native in French
&
English
translations that read out loud
Native in: English , French
Works in: French to English, English to French
Related KudoZ points
:
142
your client could be right!
Other proZ members will give you better details than I can from where I am right now, but I know there's a difference, and that there are more zeros in US versions, etc.
Remember that America and Britain are "two countries separated by the same language"!
Remember that America and Britain are "two countries separated by the same language"!
Reference:
13 mins
Agius Language & Translation
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Spanish to English, and 23 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
69
uk billion
a UK billion is a million million, written as 1 000 000 000 000, the equivalent of the US trillion. My dictionary defition offers this as a first definition and as a second definition it says: (in the US, Canada ans increasingly in Britain) one thousand million, written as 1 000 000 000. Personally as a native UK, I always think of a billion as a million million - hope this helps - it is very confusing, I admit!
Claire
Claire
16 mins
Dana Carciumaru
Canada
Canada
Native in English
Canada
Professional, accurate translations.
Native in: English , Romanian
Works in: Romanian to English, English to Romanian, French to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
38
trillion, quintillion, nonillion
ENGLISH: billion s CORRECT,N. AMERICA
B s
milliard s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - The number represented by 1 followed by 9 zeros. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000. s
FRENCH
milliard s CORRECT,MASC
M
billion s AVOID,MASC,OBSOLETE
DEF - Milliard est le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 9 zéros. s
OBS - Le terme "billion" est actuellement réservé en français pour désigner une autre notion, c-à-d., le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 12 zéros. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000.
2. ENGLISH
trillion s CORRECT,N. AMERICA
billion s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - The number represented by 1 followed by 12 zeros. s
CONT - The British billion (1,000 milliards or 1,000,000 millions) is equivalent to the American trillion. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000,000. s
FRENCH: billion s CORRECT,MASC
trillion s AVOID,MASC,OBSOLETE
DEF - Billion est le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 12 zéros. s
OBS - Le terme "trillion" est actuellement réservé en français pour désigner une autre notion, c-à-d., le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 18 zéros ("quintillion" en anglais, système américain). s
OBS - 1,000,000,00
nonillion s CORRECT,N. AMERICA
quintillion s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - American System Number of Zeros:30. s
FRENCH: quintillion s CORRECT
DEF - (1948) Un million de quatrillions [1 suivi de 30 zéros].It looks like your client is right, although the use is obsolete.
B s
milliard s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - The number represented by 1 followed by 9 zeros. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000. s
FRENCH
milliard s CORRECT,MASC
M
billion s AVOID,MASC,OBSOLETE
DEF - Milliard est le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 9 zéros. s
OBS - Le terme "billion" est actuellement réservé en français pour désigner une autre notion, c-à-d., le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 12 zéros. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000.
2. ENGLISH
trillion s CORRECT,N. AMERICA
billion s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - The number represented by 1 followed by 12 zeros. s
CONT - The British billion (1,000 milliards or 1,000,000 millions) is equivalent to the American trillion. s
OBS - 1,000,000,000,000. s
FRENCH: billion s CORRECT,MASC
trillion s AVOID,MASC,OBSOLETE
DEF - Billion est le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 12 zéros. s
OBS - Le terme "trillion" est actuellement réservé en français pour désigner une autre notion, c-à-d., le nombre représenté par 1 suivi de 18 zéros ("quintillion" en anglais, système américain). s
OBS - 1,000,000,00
nonillion s CORRECT,N. AMERICA
quintillion s CORRECT,GR. BRITAIN
DEF - American System Number of Zeros:30. s
FRENCH: quintillion s CORRECT
DEF - (1948) Un million de quatrillions [1 suivi de 30 zéros].It looks like your client is right, although the use is obsolete.
Reference:
4 hrs
Explanation: Until quite recently (this century), your client
would have been correct, British English used milliards between the thousands and the billions. US influence has currently changed this; anyway, in the field of economics, "trillions" or "billions" are quite astronomical when speaking of the dollar or pound sterling (which does not happen on the other side of the channel).
20 hrs
It's true!
noun: billion
(in Britain) the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros
(in the United States) the number that is represented as a one followed by 9 zeros
adjective: billion
(U.S.) denoting a quantity consisting of one thousand million items or units; (Britain) denoting a quantity consisting of one million million items or units
(in Britain) the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros
(in the United States) the number that is represented as a one followed by 9 zeros
adjective: billion
(U.S.) denoting a quantity consisting of one thousand million items or units; (Britain) denoting a quantity consisting of one million million items or units
Reference:
1 day 23 hrs
Evert DELOOF-SYS
Belgium
Belgium
Belgium
Seasoned linguist
Native in: Dutch , Flemish
Works in: English to Dutch, French to Dutch, Dutch to English, and 31 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
287
If some of my colleagues could be so kind as to grade my answer '1'
and 6 times more '0', then I'd have my ????
yes, one billion
:-)
yes, one billion
:-)
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