Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Oct 10, 2003 15:17
21 yrs ago
English term
Sound knowledge and thorough research
Native in: German 
Works in: German to English, English to German
billion
English
Other
Could anybody please tell me the history of the US-EN meaning of 1000 million
as opposed to the Europe/UK-EN 1 million million?
Many thanks in advance !
as opposed to the Europe/UK-EN 1 million million?
Many thanks in advance !
Responses
| 4 +9 | try this |
Sarah Ponting
|
| 5 +1 | mil millones, billón o millardo |
Rufino Pérez De La Sierra
|
| 3 | Bi million |
J. Leo (X)
|
Responses
+9
5 mins
Selected
try this
The battle for the billion has been lost, but it is only very recently that the American billion has edged out the native one, like a predatory mink. Youngsters like the noder above (now deleted, but who thought the British had used the American method for ages), assuming they've been aware of large numbers for only half their life, might have grown up thinking a billion was only a thousand million, but for a large number of us (a different large number) the word is now just ruined and unusable. We know the newspaper really means a thousand million when they use it, but we can't ourselves change our upbringing and accept such a blatant Americanism.
The first recorded use of billion in English was by John Locke in 1690, in the logical sense of million million that prevailed for three hundred years thereafter.
The change in Britain first took place as far back as 1974, when Harold Wilson's government decided to use American billions in treasury figures; however, I find it hard to imagine anyone much in the 1970s using the word naturally like that. It is only in the last ten years or so that I've been aware of the American usage appearing widely in newspapers and even, the last place it should appear, in scientific writing: scientific popularizations, anyway, perhaps because they're intended to sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
To digress: Some of these popularizations employ an even worse confusion: they describe a star as yea-many thousand billion billion light years away, or a drop of water containing so many billion billion billion somethings. Is this supposed to make it easy to visualize instead of hard old scientific notation? What difference does it make to anyone's understanding if the word occurs one time or five? And why do they always phrase it in billions, instead of trillions, quadrillions, or whatever is required? The answer is of course that no-one has any real idea what a quadrillion is. The fact that British and American ones are radically different is a minor inconvenience compared to the fact that you're way beyond meaningful comparison anyway.
We already had a serviceable word milliard for a thousand million; there was no need to import an Americanism. All we can hope now is that the whole system of number words will wither away and people will get used to exponent notation, or terms created from prefixes such as giga and tera will take over.
Billion in French had the meaning of milliard between the early 18th century and 1948, when they reverted to the standard usage in the rest of the world. However, by then American usage had already adopted the sense billion = milliard.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 15:25:30 (GMT)
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A bit more information:
\"Q: In America, a billion has 9 zeros (1,000,000,000). Why does this word contain a \"bi\" (indicating two), when there are three triplets of zeroes? And why does a billion have 12 zeroes (1,000,000,000,000) in Britain?
A: The aborigine of Australia count: \"One, two, many...\" A billion almost defies comprehension.
How large is an American billion? Sure, you can write down a \"1\" and follow it with 9 zeros but what does that mean? Can you imagine how big that number is?
Suppose you start counting NOW (One, two,...) and name a number every second without stopping. You will say \"one billion\" about 32 years later.
A British billion is a thousand times bigger than an American billion. Thirty-two thousand years to reach \"one (British) billion\", counting at one number per second.
You get the idea: a billion is such a large number it does not matter which definition you use, American or British. Either way, it is difficult to imagine and discover its meaning. According to Harold Jacobs (author of Mathematics, a Human Endeavor), that is why the Americans and the British came up with two versions. Until recently, we had no need for such a big number. So we have not agreed how to name it.
A \"billion\" is a relatively new word. The word, billion, was not in common use even as late as the 16th century. It comes from the Italian and is first found as bimillion, bilioni, and byllion. It originally meant a million million, and in England and Germany it still does. That is the meaning of the prefix bi: two \"million\" written side by side and meaning a million million.\"
http://www.wonderquest.com/Billions.htm
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Note added at 2003-10-10 16:23:02 (GMT)
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In answer to your note: \"I\'m trying to find out when and for what reason the US version surfaced the first time.\"
Maybe for the reason mentioned in the second excerpt that I pasted in my answer:
\"You get the idea: a billion is such a large number it does not matter which definition you use, American or British. Either way, it is difficult to imagine and discover its meaning. According to Harold Jacobs (author of Mathematics, a Human Endeavor), that is why the Americans and the British came up with two versions. Until recently, we had no need for such a big number.\"
Sounds plausible to me :-)
HTH
Sarah
The first recorded use of billion in English was by John Locke in 1690, in the logical sense of million million that prevailed for three hundred years thereafter.
The change in Britain first took place as far back as 1974, when Harold Wilson's government decided to use American billions in treasury figures; however, I find it hard to imagine anyone much in the 1970s using the word naturally like that. It is only in the last ten years or so that I've been aware of the American usage appearing widely in newspapers and even, the last place it should appear, in scientific writing: scientific popularizations, anyway, perhaps because they're intended to sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
To digress: Some of these popularizations employ an even worse confusion: they describe a star as yea-many thousand billion billion light years away, or a drop of water containing so many billion billion billion somethings. Is this supposed to make it easy to visualize instead of hard old scientific notation? What difference does it make to anyone's understanding if the word occurs one time or five? And why do they always phrase it in billions, instead of trillions, quadrillions, or whatever is required? The answer is of course that no-one has any real idea what a quadrillion is. The fact that British and American ones are radically different is a minor inconvenience compared to the fact that you're way beyond meaningful comparison anyway.
We already had a serviceable word milliard for a thousand million; there was no need to import an Americanism. All we can hope now is that the whole system of number words will wither away and people will get used to exponent notation, or terms created from prefixes such as giga and tera will take over.
Billion in French had the meaning of milliard between the early 18th century and 1948, when they reverted to the standard usage in the rest of the world. However, by then American usage had already adopted the sense billion = milliard.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 15:25:30 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
A bit more information:
\"Q: In America, a billion has 9 zeros (1,000,000,000). Why does this word contain a \"bi\" (indicating two), when there are three triplets of zeroes? And why does a billion have 12 zeroes (1,000,000,000,000) in Britain?
A: The aborigine of Australia count: \"One, two, many...\" A billion almost defies comprehension.
How large is an American billion? Sure, you can write down a \"1\" and follow it with 9 zeros but what does that mean? Can you imagine how big that number is?
Suppose you start counting NOW (One, two,...) and name a number every second without stopping. You will say \"one billion\" about 32 years later.
A British billion is a thousand times bigger than an American billion. Thirty-two thousand years to reach \"one (British) billion\", counting at one number per second.
You get the idea: a billion is such a large number it does not matter which definition you use, American or British. Either way, it is difficult to imagine and discover its meaning. According to Harold Jacobs (author of Mathematics, a Human Endeavor), that is why the Americans and the British came up with two versions. Until recently, we had no need for such a big number. So we have not agreed how to name it.
A \"billion\" is a relatively new word. The word, billion, was not in common use even as late as the 16th century. It comes from the Italian and is first found as bimillion, bilioni, and byllion. It originally meant a million million, and in England and Germany it still does. That is the meaning of the prefix bi: two \"million\" written side by side and meaning a million million.\"
http://www.wonderquest.com/Billions.htm
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 16:23:02 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
In answer to your note: \"I\'m trying to find out when and for what reason the US version surfaced the first time.\"
Maybe for the reason mentioned in the second excerpt that I pasted in my answer:
\"You get the idea: a billion is such a large number it does not matter which definition you use, American or British. Either way, it is difficult to imagine and discover its meaning. According to Harold Jacobs (author of Mathematics, a Human Endeavor), that is why the Americans and the British came up with two versions. Until recently, we had no need for such a big number.\"
Sounds plausible to me :-)
HTH
Sarah
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jackie Bowman
: Very well done. OED, by the way, dates the use of the US sense in the UK to 1951.
4 mins
|
|
thanks, Jack, for the extra info :-)
|
|
| agree |
yolanda Speece
: I always thought 12 zeros was a million million or a billion, too. quadrillion-isn't that 24 zeros?Ha, ha, ha. As an American I agree. I think they were just trying to be defiant and it's just served to confuse everyone!
6 mins
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no, don't introduce quadrillions as then the dispute over septillion/quadrillion comes up!!!
|
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| agree |
Grace Anderson
6 mins
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thanks, Grace :-)
|
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| agree |
Christine Andersen
: I think milliard should be revived and billion kept for the million million, but that's just wishful thinking now, I'm afraid!
8 mins
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it seems to have gone completely out of fashion in English
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| agree |
David Moore (X)
: Brilliant, Sarah! (and on top of that, you answered the question!!!!)....
20 mins
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you're making me blush ;-)
|
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| agree |
Rajan Chopra
47 mins
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thanks :-)
|
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| agree |
DGK T-I
52 mins
|
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thanks, Giuli :-)
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| agree |
Empty Whiskey Glass
: The Explanation!
1 hr
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wow, what a compliment!!! Thanks, Svetozar :-)
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| agree |
moken
: in money markets it makes a BIG difference. volumes traded in certain currencies are huge. we never used billion: the internationally coined word for 1,000 million is "yard" (yarda in italy and spain). this seems a contraction of the french milliard :O)
4 hrs
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miliardo in Italian :-)
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Phantastic! Thanks a 1000³ or 1000000², Sarah! Thanks to everybody, also for the interesting comments.
Special thanks to James - not so much for the answer :o) - but the added notes and a direct mail in which he confirms my idea that the US-billion might go back to time before the American War of Independence when Noah Webster published the first 'Webster's' in 1806.
Best Regards from Australia, and I better start counting: one, two, many ... or was it one, too many ? :o))"
+1
1 min
Rufino Pérez De La Sierra
Canada
Canada
Native in English
&
English
Canada
Certified, 18 years of experience
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian) 
, Spanish (Variants: US, Mexican)
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
12
3 mins
Bi million
two "millions" (million, million) is one billion.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 15:50:30 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.quickreference.com/intro.htm
Another example of the power of etymology is in learning million, billion, trillion, etc., which all contain the root mill, meaning 1,000. Most people know how to spell and use million, billion, and trillion, but what comes after trillion? The root for million is mill, which means 1,000. Since million doesn\'t have a prefix a 1 is understood. So one million is written as one set of three zeros after 1,000 or 1,000,000. In billion and trillion the m for mill is understood and the prefix indicates how many sets of three zeros are to be written after 1,000.Thus the etymology for billion is [bi-,two + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is written as 1,000,000,000 or two sets of three zeros after 1,000. The etymology for trillion is [tri-,three + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is written as 1,000,000,000,000 or three sets of three zeros after 1,000. After trillion comes quadrillion [quadr-,four + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is four sets of three zeros after 1,000 or 1,000,000,000,000,000. These prefixes continue through viginti which in Latin means twenty. You simply write down 1,000 and then add as many sets of three zeros as the prefix indicates. See pages 116 and 282. Centillion is written as 100 sets of three zeros after 1,000 or 1 followed by 303 zeros.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 16:55:37 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 17:04:36 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 17:18:05 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 17:47:20 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 18:33:40 (GMT)
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I\'ve been hitting the back button too much. Sorry.
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Note added at 2003-10-11 07:27:38 (GMT) Post-grading
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Noah Webster was after the War of Independence, before the Civil War. Thank you for the reference you sent me.
This type of question can often be traced to the US struggle to be different and linguistically, the FR-BR influences will most likely be present in the juggling act.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 15:50:30 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.quickreference.com/intro.htm
Another example of the power of etymology is in learning million, billion, trillion, etc., which all contain the root mill, meaning 1,000. Most people know how to spell and use million, billion, and trillion, but what comes after trillion? The root for million is mill, which means 1,000. Since million doesn\'t have a prefix a 1 is understood. So one million is written as one set of three zeros after 1,000 or 1,000,000. In billion and trillion the m for mill is understood and the prefix indicates how many sets of three zeros are to be written after 1,000.Thus the etymology for billion is [bi-,two + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is written as 1,000,000,000 or two sets of three zeros after 1,000. The etymology for trillion is [tri-,three + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is written as 1,000,000,000,000 or three sets of three zeros after 1,000. After trillion comes quadrillion [quadr-,four + [m]ill,thousand + -ion] which is four sets of three zeros after 1,000 or 1,000,000,000,000,000. These prefixes continue through viginti which in Latin means twenty. You simply write down 1,000 and then add as many sets of three zeros as the prefix indicates. See pages 116 and 282. Centillion is written as 100 sets of three zeros after 1,000 or 1 followed by 303 zeros.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 16:55:37 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-10-10 17:04:36 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 17:18:05 (GMT)
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http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 17:47:20 (GMT)
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http://gost.isi.edu/brian/liter/english_faq.html
The word \"billion\" has existed in France since the 15th century. Opinions differ as to its initial meaning: one possibility is that it meant 10^12 to mathematicians and 10^9 to others. The first use in England recorded in the OED is by Locke in 1690: the quotation clearly shows that for Locke it meant 10^12. This remained the standard British meaning until the middle of the 20th century. Early in the 18th century, French arithmeticians revised its meaning to 10^9, and the U.S., acquiring the word directly from the French, took this meaning also.
French has the word \"milliard\", also meaning 10^9, which had largely displaced \"billion\" by the beginning of the 20th century. (\"Milliard\" is given in English dictionaries, though most of the few people who know it would think of it as a French word.) By 1948, the use of large numbers in the sciences and the declining value of the franc led the French Weights and Measures conference to recommend the return of \"billion\" to its original meaning of 10^12. This became official policy in 1961.
By this time, the British had been introduced to the U.S. meaning. MEU warns us that the usages differ; MEU2 (1965) suggests: \"Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]\". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of \"billion\" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage.
Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question \"What do you understand by `a billion\'?\" would be: \"Well, I mean a million million, but I often don\'t know what other people mean.\" Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases
\"English billion\" and \"American billion\". English-speaking South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous.
Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid \"billion\" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of \"a very large number\".
Publications consulted:
OED, Editions 1 and 2.
Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise.
P Pamart, \"A propos d\'une reforme des mesures legales\", in \"Vie et Langage\", (125)1962, pp 435-437.
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Note added at 2003-10-10 18:33:40 (GMT)
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I\'ve been hitting the back button too much. Sorry.
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Note added at 2003-10-11 07:27:38 (GMT) Post-grading
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Noah Webster was after the War of Independence, before the Civil War. Thank you for the reference you sent me.
This type of question can often be traced to the US struggle to be different and linguistically, the FR-BR influences will most likely be present in the juggling act.
Discussion
If I take 1 mille (1000) and square it and multiply the result a second time by 1000 I get an American billion.
So, the figure 2 has been applied in two different ways.
I'm trying to find out when and for what reason the US version surfaced the first time. Thanks.