How many is a billion?1 billion到底是多少？
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In British English, a billion used to be equivalent to a million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000), while in American English it has always equated to a thousand million (i.e. 1,000,000,000). British English has now adopted the American figure, though, so that a billion equals a thousand million in both varieties of English.
在英式英语中，1 billion过去是指一万亿，而在美式英语里则一直就是指十亿。不过，如今英式英语也采用了美式英语的用法，1 billion也是指十亿了。
The same sort of change has taken place with the meaning of trillion. In British English, a trillion used to mean a million million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000). Nowadays, it’s generally held to be equivalent to a million million (1,000,000,000,000), as it is in American English.
trillion这个词也经历了同样的变化。在英式英语中，1 trillion过去是指一百万亿，但是到了今天，1 trillion也跟美式英语里的一样，一般是指一万亿了。
The same evolution can be seen with quadrillion and quintillion. In British English, a quadrillion used to mean a thousand raised to the power of eight, and is now understood to be a thousand raised to the power of five. A quintillion, in British English, used to mean a million raised to the power of five, and is now most commonly held to be a thousand raised to the power of six.
quadrillion和quintillion两个词也经历了这样的演变。在英式英语中，1 quadrillion过去是指千的八次方，但现在是指千的五次方了。而1 quintillion过去是指百万的五次方，但现在大多是指千的六次方。
Even higher are sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, and decillion, some of which are not common enough to be included in OxfordDictionaries.com yet.
更大的数字单位有sextillion（千的七次方）、septillion（千的八次方）、octillion（千的九次方）、nonillion（千的十次方）和decillion（千的十一次方），这些数字有些因为不太常用，所以牛津英语在线词典里还没有收录进去。
Other terms follow the same linguistic pattern (ending with -illion) but do not refer to precise numbers. These include jillion, zillion, squillion, gazillion, kazillion, bajillion, and bazillion. All of these words are used informally to refer to an extremely or indefinitely large number.
其他也有些表数量的单词是以-illion结尾的，但并不指代具体准确的数字。这些单词有jillion、zillion、squillion、gazillion、kazillion、bajillion和 bazillion，它们主要在非正式场合下使用，用来指代非常大或无限大的数字。
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