bilhão

Portuguese

Portuguese numbers ^(edit)

←  1,000,000 (106)	←  100,000,000 (108)	1,000,000,000 (109)	1012  → [a], [b]	1015  → [a], [b], [c]
Cardinal (Brazil): um bilhão     Cardinal (Portugal): mil milhões     Ordinal (Brazil): bilionésimo     Ordinal (Portugal): milésimo milionésimo, milésimo de milionésimo     Fractional (Brazil): bilionésimo, um bilhão avos     Fractional (Portugal): milésimo milionésimo, milésimo de milionésimo, mil milhões avos
Portuguese Wikipedia article on 1,000,000,000 (109)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /biˈʎɐ̃w̃/ [biˈʎɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /biˈʎɐ̃w̃/, /bɨˈʎɐ̃w̃/

• Hyphenation: bi‧lhão

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French billion.

Noun

bilhão m (plural bilhões)

1. (Brazil, cardinal number, short scale) billion (10⁹)

   Synonym: (Angola, Portugal) mil milhões (“10⁹”)

   Coordinate terms: mil (“10³”), milhão (“10⁶”), bilhão (“10⁹”), trilhão (“10¹²”), quadrilhão / quatrilhão (“10¹⁵”) — short scale

2. (Portugal, informal, cardinal number, long scale) alternative form of bilião (“10¹²”)

   Synonym: (Brazil) trilhão (“10¹²”)

   Coordinate terms: milhão (“10⁶”), mil milhões (“10⁹”), bilhão (“10¹²”), mil bilhões (“10¹⁵”), trilhão (“10¹⁸”) — long scale, informal

3. (colloquial, hyperbolic) billion (an unspecified very large number)

Usage notes

• Portuguese-speaking countries follow the traditional long scale, with the exception of Brazil, which adopted the short scale used in the UK and US. The number 10⁹ is expressed as mil milhões (literally “one thousand million”) in African and European Portuguese, but as um bilhão in Brazilian Portuguese.
• The Angolan Government prescribes the use of long scale.
• In Portugal, the alternative um bilhão (“one trillion, 10¹²”) is an informal form of the preferred and prescribed um bilião.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:bilhão.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French billon.

Noun

bilhão m (plural bilhões)

1. billon