History
The existence of the different scales means that care must be taken when comparing large numbers between languages or countries, or when interpreting old documents in countries where the dominant scale has changed over time. For example, British-English, French, and Italian historical documents can refer to either the short or long scale, depending on the date of the document, since each of the three countries has used both systems at various times in its history. Today, the United Kingdom officially uses the short scale, but France and Italy use the long scale.
The pre-1974 former British English word billion, post-1961 current French word billion, post-1994 current Italian word bilione, German Billion; Dutch biljoen; Swedish biljon; Finnish biljoona; Danish billion; Spanish billón; Slovenian bilijon and the European Portuguese word bilião (with an alternate spelling to the Brazilian Portuguese variant) all refer to 1012, being long-scale terms. Therefore, each of these words translates to the American English or post-1974 modern British English word: trillion (1012 in the short scale), and not billion (109 in the short scale).
On the other hand, the pre-1961 former French word billion, pre-1994 former Italian word bilione, Brazilian Portuguese word bilhão and the Welsh word biliwn all refer to 109, being short scale terms. Each of these words translates to the American English or post-1974 modern British English word billion (109 in the short scale).
The terms billion and milliard both originally meant 1012 when introduced.
- In long scale countries, milliard was redefined down to its current value of 109, leaving billion at its original 1012 value and so on for the larger numbers. Some of these countries, but not all, introduced new words billiard, trilliard, etc. as intermediate terms.
- In some short scale countries, milliard was redefined down to 109 and billion dropped altogether, with trillion redefined down to 1012 and so on for the larger numbers.
- In many short scale countries, milliard was dropped altogether and billion was redefined down to 109, adjusting downwards the value of trillion and all the larger numbers.
The word million derives from the Old French milion from the earlier Old Italian milione, an intensification of mille, a thousand. That is, a million is a "big thousand", much as a "great gross" is a dozen gross or 1728.
- Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1200s | The word million was not used in any language before the 13th century. Maximus Planudes (c. 1260–1305) was among the first recorded users. |
| late 1300s |
The word million entered the English language. One of the earliest references is William Langland's Piers Plowman (written c. 1360-1387 in Middle English), with:
Coueyte not his goodes For millions of moneye Translation: Do not envy his wealthfor millions of money |
| 1475 | French mathematician Jehan Adam recorded the words bymillion and trimillion as meaning 1012 and 1018 respectively in a manuscript Traicté en arismetique pour la practique par gectouers, now held in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris.
... item noctes que le premier greton dembas vault ung, le second vault ... dix, le trois vault ... cent, le quart vult mille, le Ve vault dix M, le VIe vault cent M, le VIIe vault Milion, Le VIIIe vault dix Million, Le IXe vault cent Millions, Le Xe vault Mill Millions, Le XIe vault dix mill Millions, Le XIIe vault Cent mil Millions, Le XIIIe vault bymillion, Le XIIIIe vault dix bymillions, Le XVe vault mil bymillions, Le XVIe vault mil bymillions, Le XVIIe vault dix Mil bymillions, Le XVIIIe vault cent mil bymillions, Le XIXe vault trimillion, Le XXe vault dix trimillions ...
Translation: ... Item note that the first counter from the bottom is worth one, the 2nd is worth one hundred, the 4th is worth one thousand, the 5th is worth ten thousand, the 6th is worth one hundred thousand, the 7th is worth a million, the 8th is worth ten millions, the 9th is worth one hundred millions, the 10th is worth one thousand millions, the 11th is worth ten thousand millions, the 12th is worth one hundred thousand million, the 13th is worth a bymillion, the 14th is worth ten bymillions, the 15th is worth one bymillions, the 16th is worth one thousand bymillions, the 17th is worth ten thousand bymillions, the 18th is worth hundred thousand bymillions, the 19th is worth a trimillion, the 20th is worth ten trimillions ... |
| 1484 |
French mathematician Nicolas Chuquet, in his article Le Triparty en la Science des Nombres par Maistre Nicolas Chuquet Parisien, used the words byllion, tryllion, quadrillion, quyllion, sixlion, septyllion, ottyllion, and nonyllion to refer to 1012, 1018, etc. Most of the work was copied without attribution by Estienne de La Roche and published in his 1520 book, L'arismetique. Chuquet's original article was rediscovered in the 1870s and then published for the first time in 1880.
... Item lon doit savoir que ung million vault mille milliers de unitez, et ung byllion vault mille milliers de millions, et tryllion vault mille milliers de byllions, et ung quadrillion vault mille milliers de tryllions et ainsi des aultres : Et de ce en est pose ung exemple nombre divise et punctoye ainsi que devant est dit, tout lequel nombre monte 745324 tryllions 804300 byllions 700023 millions 654321. Exemple : 745324'8043000'700023'654321 ... Translation: ...Item: one should know that a million is wortha thousand thousand units, and a byllion is worth a thousand thousand millions, and tryllion is worth a thousand thousand byllions, and a quadrillion is worth a thousand thousand tryllions, and so on for the others. And an example of this follows, a number divided up and punctuated as previously described, the whole number being 745324 tryllions, 804300 byllions 700023 millions 654321. Example: 745324'8043000'700023'654321 ... The extract from Chuquet's manuscript, the transcription and translation provided here all contain an original mistake: one too many zeros in the 804300 portion of the fully written out example: 745324'8043000 '700023'654321 ... |
| 1514 |
French mathematician Budaeus (Guillaume Budé), writing in Latin, used the term milliart to mean "Millions of millions" or 1012 in his book De Asse et partibus eius Libri quinqz.
.. hoc est denas myriadu myriadas, quod vno verbo nostrates abaci studiosi Milliartu appellat, quasi millionu millione
Translation: .. this is ten myriad myriads, which in one word our students of numbers call Milliart, as if a million millions |
| 1549 | The influential French mathematician Jacques Pelletier du Mans used the name milliard (or milliart), attributing this meaning to the earlier usage by Guillaume Budé |
| 1600s | The traditional six-digit groups were split into three-digit groups. In France and Italy, some scientists then began using billion to mean 109, trillion to mean 1012, etc. This usage formed the origins of the later short scale. The majority of scientists either continued to say thousand million or changed the meaning of the Pelletier term, milliard, from "million of millions" down to "thousand million". This meaning of milliard has been occasionally used in England, but was widely adopted in France, Germany, Italy and the rest of Europe, for those keeping the original long scale billion from Adam, Chuquet and Pelletier. |
| 1676 | The first published use of milliard as 109 occurred in the Netherlands.
.. milliart/ofte duysent millioenen..
Translation: ..milliart / also thousand millions.. |
| Early 1700s | The short-scale meaning of the term billion was brought to the British American colonies |
| 1729 | The first American appearance of the short scale value of billion as 109 was published in the Greenwood Book of 1729, written anonymously by Prof. Isaac Greenwood of Harvard College |
| Early 1800s | France widely converted to the short scale, and was followed by the U.S., which began teaching it in schools. Many French encyclopedias of the 19th century either omitted the long scale system or called it "désormais obsolète", a now obsolete system. Nevertheless, by the mid 20th century France had converted back to the long scale. |
| 1923 |
German hyperinflation in the 1920s Weimar Republic caused 'Eintausend Mark' (1000 Mark = 103 Mark) German banknotes to be over-stamped as 'Eine Milliarde Mark' (109 Mark). This introduced large-number names to the German populace. The Mark or Papiermark was replaced at the end of 1923 by the Rentenmark at an exchange rate of: 1 Rentenmark = 1 billion (long scale) Papiermark = 1012 Papiermark = 1 trillion (short scale) Papiermark |
| 1926 |
H. W. Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage noted:
It should be remembered that "billion" does not mean in American use (which follows the French) what it means in British. For to us it means the second power of a million, i.e. a million millions (1,000,000,000,000); for Americans it means a thousand multiplied by itself twice, or a thousand millions (1,000,000,000), what we call a milliard. Since billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform.
Although American English usage did not change, within the next 50 years French usage changed from short scale to long and British English usage changed from long scale to short. |
| 1946 |
Hyperinflation in Hungary in 1946 led to the introduction of the 1020 pengő banknote. 100 million b-pengő (long scale) = 100 trillion (long scale) pengő = 100 quintillion (short scale) pengő = 1020 pengő. On 1 August 1946, the forint was introduced at a rate of: 1 forint = 400 quadrilliard (long scale) pengő = 4 x 1029 pengő = 400 octillion (short scale) pengő. |
| 1948 | The 9th General Conference on Weights and Measures received requests to establish an International System of Units. One such request was accompanied by a draft French Government discussion paper, which included a suggestion of universal use of the long scale, inviting the short-scale countries to return or convert. This paper was widely distributed as the basis for further discussion. The matter of the International System of Units was eventually resolved at the 11th General Conference in 1960. The question of long scale versus short scale was not resolved and does not appear in the list of any conference resolutions. |
| 1960 | The 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted the International System of Units (SI), with its own set of numeric prefixes. SI is therefore independent of the number scale being used. SI also notes the language-dependence of some larger-number names and advises against using ambiguous terms such as billion, trillion, etc. |
| 1961 | The French Government confirmed their official usage of the long scale in the Journal Officiel (the official French Government gazette). |
| 1974 |
British prime minister Harold Wilson explained in a written answer to the House of Commons that UK government statistics would from then on use the short scale. Hansard, for the 20 December 1974, reported it:
Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop asked the Prime Minister whether he will make it the practice of his administration that when Ministers employ the word 'billion' in any official speeches, documents, or answers to Parliamentary Questions, they will, to avoid confusion, only do so in its British meaning of 1 million million and not in the sense in which it is used in the United States of America, which uses the term 'billion' to mean 1,000 million. The Prime Minister: No. The word 'billion' is now used internationally to mean 1,000 million and it would be confusing if British Ministers were to use it in any other sense. I accept that it could still be interpreted in this country as 1 million million and I shall ask my colleagues to ensure that, if they do use it, there should be no ambiguity as to its meaning. The BBC and other UK mass media quickly followed the government's lead within the UK. During the last quarter of the 20th century, most other English-speaking countries (Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, etc.) either also followed this lead or independently switched to the short scale use. However, in most of these countries, some limited long scale use persists and the official status of the short scale use is not clear. |
| 1975 | French mathematician Geneviève Guitel introduced the terms échelle longue (long scale) and échelle courte (short scale) to refer to the two numbering systems. |
| 1993 |
Hyperinflation in Yugoslavia led to the introduction of 5 x 1011 dinar banknotes. 5 x 1011 dinar banknotes = 500 thousand millions (long scale) dinars = 500 billions (short scale) dinars. The later introduction of the new dinar came at an exchange rate of: 1 novi dinar = 1 × 1027 dinars = ~1.3 × 1027 pre 1990 dinars. |
| 1994 | The Italian Government confirmed their official usage of the long scale. |
| 2009 |
Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe led to banknotes of 1014 Zimbabwean dollars being issued in 2009, shortly ahead of the currency being abandoned. As of 2012, a new currency has yet to be announced - so foreign currencies are being used instead. 100 trillion (short scale) Zimbabwean dollars = 1014 Zimbabwean dollars = 100 billion (long scale) Zimbabwean dollars = 1027 pre-2006 Zimbabwean dollars. |
Read more about this topic: Long And Short Scales
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