30 "...trillions..." One thousand thousand = one million. ( 1,000,000 ) One thousand million = one billion. ( 1,000,000,000 ) One thousand billion = one trillion. ( 1,000,000,000,000 ) The English names for large numbers are coined from the Latin names for small numbers n by adding the ending -illion suggested by the name "million" Thus billion and trillion are coined from the Latin prefixes bin) and tri- (n = 3), respectively. In recent years, American usage has eroded the European number definitions, particularly in Britain and to a lesser extent in other countries. This is primarily due to American finance, because Americans insist that $1,000,000,000 be called a billion dollars. In 1974, the government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that henceforth "billion" would mean 109 and not 1012 in official British reports and statistics. Anyone who uses the words "billion" and "trillion" internationally should make clear which meaning of those words is intended" -- Reference Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. back to 30)
Share with your friends: |