Etymology

Suffix

1. Combined with Latin prefixes for names of integers in order to form names of powers of a million or of a thousand greater than 1,000,000. Thus we have the names billion, trillion, etc.
2. Added to various nonsense syllables to indicate an arbitrarily very large number.

Usage notes

• The word formed by combining the Latin prefix for the name of an integer $n$ ($n\; >\; 1$) with this suffix may mean $1,000,000^n$ or $1000^\{n\; +\; 1\}$ depending on national practices. Hence billion can mean “million million” or “thousand million”. See the usage notes at Wiktionary’s appendix on numbers for more information.