Names of large numbers

Numbers that are larger than one million are usually either represented using scientific notation, or by words.

There are two main ways of using words to write large numbers. The American way or "Short form" for naming large numbers is different from the European way or "Long form" of naming large numbers. This is mainly because of American finance. Short form numbering is based on thousands and Long form is based on millions. Because of this, in Short form a billion is one thousand millions (10⁹) while in Long form it is one million millions (10¹²).

The change in the United Kingdom to Short form numbering happened in 1974. Today, Short form is most commonly used in most English speaking countries.

Some examples

Number	Scientific notation	Grouping
6 000 000 000 000 000	6 × 1015	6 quadrillion
765 476 250 000 000	7.6547625 × 1014	765 trillion, 476 billion, 250 million
123 456 789	1.23456789 × 108	123 million, 456 thousand, 789
145 000	1.45 × 105	145 thousand

Names for large numbers

Scientific notation	American name (Short Form)	Old European name (Long Form)	Old-British name	SI Symbol	Metric prefix
1^0	One	One	One
1^1	Ten	Ten	Ten	da	Deca-
1^2	Hundred	Hundred	Hundred	c	Cent-
1^3	Thousand	Thousand	Thousand	k	Kilo-
1^4	Ten thousand	Ten thousand	Ten thousand
1^5	Hundred thousand	Hundred thousand	Hundred thousand
1^6	Million	Million	Million	M	Mega-
109	Billion	Milliard	Thousand million	G	Giga-
1012	Trillion	Billion	Billion	T	Tera-
1015	Quadrillion	Billiard	Thousand billion	P	Peta-
1018	Quintillion	Trillion	Trillion	E	Exa-
1021	Sextillion	Trilliard	Thousand trillion	Z	Zetta-
1024	Septillion	Quadrillion	Quadrillion	Y	Yotta-
1027	Octillion	Quadrilliard	Thousand quadrillion	R	Ronna-
1030	Nonillion	Quintillion	Quintillion	Q	Quetta-
1033	Decillion	Quintilliard	Thousand quintillion
1036	Undecillion	Sextillion	Sextillion
1039	Duodecillion	Sextilliard	Thousand sextillion
1042	Tredecillion	Septillion	Septillion
1045	Quattuordecillion	Septilliard	Thousand septillion
1048	Quindecillion	Octillion	Octillion
1051	Sexdecillion	Octilliard	Thousand octillion
1054	Septendecillion	Nonillion	Nonillion
1057	Octodecillion	Nonilliard	Thousand nonillion
1060	Novemdecillion	Decillion	Decillion
1063	Vigintillion	Decilliard	Thousand decillion
1066	Unvigintillion	Undecillion	Undecillion
1069	Duovigintillion	Undecilliard	Thousand undecillion
1072	Trevigintillion	Duodecillion	Duodecillion
1075	Quattuorvigintillion	Duodecilliard	Thousand duodecillion
1078	Quinvigintillion	Tredecillion	Tredecillion
1081	Sexvigintillion	Tredecilliard	Thousand tredecillion
1084	Septenvigintillion	Quattuordecillion	Quattuordecillion
1087	Octovigintillion	Quattuordecilliard	Thousand quattuordecillion
1090	Novemvigintillion	Quindecillion	Quindecillion
1093	Trigintillion	Quindecilliard	Thousand quindecillion
1096	Untrigintillion	Sexdecillion	Sexdecillion
1099	Duotrigintillion	Sexdecilliard	Thousand sexdecillion
10100	Googol	Googol	Googol
10102	Tretrigintillion	Septendecillion	Septendecillion
10105	Quattuortrigintillion	Septendecilliard	Thousand septendecillion
10108	Quintrigintillion	Octodecillion	Octodecillion
10111	Sextrigintillion	Octodecilliard	Thousand octodecillion
10114	Septentrigintillion	Novemdecillion	Novemdecillion
10117	Octotrigintillion	Novemdecilliard	Thousand novemdecillion
10120	Novemtrigintillion	Vigintillion	Vigintillion
10123	Quadragintillion	Vigintilliard	Thousand vigintillion
10126	Unquadragintillion	Unvigintillion	Unvigintillion
10153	Quinquagintillion	Quinvigintilliard
10183	Sexagintillion	Trigintilliard
10213	Septuagintillion	Quintrigintilliard
10243	Octogintillion	Quadragintilliard
10273	Nonagintillion	Quinquadragintilliard
10303	Centillion	Quinquagintilliard
10306	Cenuntillion	Quinquagintilliard	Unquinquagintillion
10603	Ducentillion
10903	Trecentillion
101203	Quadringentillion
101503	Quingentillion
101803	Sescentillion
102103	Septingentillion
102403	Octingentillion
102703	Nongentillion
103003	Millinillion
1010100	Googolplex
10101034	Skewes' Number
10googolplex	Googolplexplex

There is also the number googol, which is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), and the number googolplex, which is a 1 with a googol of zeros behind it, (10^{10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000}) (10¹⁰¹⁰⁰). The number googolplexplex, is a 1 with a googolplex number of zeros behind it.

The name centillion was devised in the 19th century for the 100th "illion", being 10³⁰³ in short form and 10⁶⁰⁰ in long form, and is much bigger than googol.

History

Numbers were first used by prehistoric tribes. Those prehistoric tribes invented numbers as a way to measure and calculate items, something which required counting. More advanced prehistoric tribes would later invented mathematics and they started adding, subtracting, multiplying, as a way to measure and calculate more advanced and complex items and certain fields. Large numbers were first used by ancient civilizations such as Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Akkad, Babylonia, the Hittite Empire, Rome, and Greece, for measuring and calculating items. As civilizations grew more complex, numbers did as well.

The words bymillion and trimillion, and millions were first written to describe extremely large numbers in 1475 by Jehan Adam. In 1484, Nicolas Chuquet used the words million, byllion, trillion, and even further to write and describe way much larger numbers. Adam and Chuquet both used long scale. For example, Adam's bymillion (Chuquet's byllion) was used to write 10¹². While these were the first writings that used these words, Adam and Chuquet were probably not the creators of the words. The word million comes from the Old Italian millione. These words were also probably commonly used before the books were written.

Other websites

• Counting Really,REALLY,REALLY High
• Naming Large Numbers Archived 2022-08-11 at the Wayback Machine