Where does “billion” come from?

billion (French) comes from French -illion, from French million, from Middle French million, from Old French millon, from Italian milione, from Italian mille, from Latin Mīlle, from Proto-Italic smīɣeslī.

billion (French): 10; a long scale billion; a short scale trillion

Definitions

  1. 10; a long scale billion; a short scale trillion

Ancestry of “billion”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1French-illionillion
2Frenchmillionmillion, 10
3Middle Frenchmillionmillion, 10
4Old Frenchmillon—
5Italianmilionemillion
6Italianmillethousand
7LatinMīllethousand; 1000
8Proto-Italicsmīɣeslīthousand
9Proto-Indo-Europeansmih₂ǵʰéslih₂—

Words derived from “billion”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ →Every word from Proto-Italic smīɣeslī →Every word from Latin Mīlle →