zillionnoun & adjective
Factsheet
What does the word zillion mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word zillion. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the word zillion?
| 1900 | 0.0001 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0008 |
| 1930 | 0.0025 |
| 1940 | 0.0048 |
| 1950 | 0.011 |
| 1960 | 0.027 |
| 1970 | 0.065 |
| 1980 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 0.18 |
| 2010 | 0.22 |
How is the word zillion pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the word zillion come from?
Earliest known use
1920s
The earliest known use of the word zillion is in the 1920s.
OED's earliest evidence for zillion is from 1920, in the Detroit Free Press.
zillion is a variant or alteration of another lexical item.
Etymons: million n., billion n., trillion n.
Nearby entries
- Zika, n.1952–
- Zilavka, n.1926–
- zilch, n. & adj.1925–
- zilch, v.1957–
- zill, n.1754–
- zilla, n.1772–
- -zilla, comb. form
- zilladar, n.1763–
- Zil lane, n.1985–
- zilla parishad, n.1957–
- zillion, n. & adj.1920–
- zillionaire, n.1926–
- zillionth, n. & adj.1940–
- zimb, n.1790–
- Zimba, n.1625–
- Zimbabwe, n.1891–
- Zimbabwean, adj. & n.1961–
- zimbel, n.1888–
- zimme, n.1848–63
- Zimmer, n.1951–
- zina, n.1817–
Etymology
Notes
- 1901
The amount of their credit is over four zillion francs.
Lima (Ohio) Times-Democrat 16 August
Meaning & use
- noun
- 1920–A very large but indefinite number or quantity (of something). Usually in plural.
- 1920
We are willing to be most anything except an incubator for zillions of germs.
Detroit Free Press 28 February 6/4 - 1947
Faithful to their zillions of fans.
Esquire May 40/2 - 1987
I would be typing along, and when I pressed the ‘O’ I would get a zillion of them on the screen.
Family Computing February 48/1 - 1993
Hollywood..suffers from inflated budgets and tries too hard to make movies that make zillions.
USA Weekend 28 March 4/1 - 2001
Haring danced and did drugs and had zillions of homosexual encounters.
Times 27 June ii. 15/1
the world relative properties number plurality great number, numerousness [nouns] a large number or multitude- sandOld English–In various metaphorical and similative uses. With reference to the innumerability of the grains composing sand.
- thousandOld English–Often used vaguely or hyperbolically for a large number: cf. hundred, n. & adj.
- un-i-rimeOld English–1200A countless number (of people or things), a multitude; an immense quantity (of something).
- legiona1325–A vast host or multitude (of persons or things).
- fernc1325–1400A huge quantity or number.
- multitudec1350–In singular with count noun. A very large number, a great crowd (of people or things).
- hundred1362–Often used indefinitely or hyperbolically for a large number: cf. thousand, n. & adj. (With various constructions, as in sense 1.)
- abundancec1384–A large number (of things or people).
- quantityc1390–An indefinite (usually large or considerable) amount or portion. In later use frequently in plural.
- sight1390–A show or display of something; hence, a great number or quantity; a multitude; a ‘deal’ or ‘lot’. Now colloquial or slang.
- felec1394–1525Quasi-n. Many of. Cf. A.2.
- manyheada1400–40Multiplicity.
- lastc1405–1712A large indefinite number. Obsolete.
- sortc1475–A (great, good, etc.) number or lot of persons or things; a considerable body or quantity; a multitude.
- infinityc1480–In hyperbolical use (from 1, 2): Immensity, vastness; an indefinitely great amount or number, an exceeding multitude, ‘no end’ (of).
- multiplie1488–1596A multitude; great numbers or quantity.
- numbers1488–In plural. A (great, infinite, etc.) multitude of people or things.
- power1489–A large number, quantity, or amount; an abundance of, a great deal of; a lot of. Now chiefly English regional, Irish English, and U.S. regional…
- many1525–Preceded by the indefinite article and frequently (now always exc. English regional) an adjective, as in… With of and a noun phrase (now only one…
- flock1535–plural used to indicate: Great numbers, ‘swarms’.
- heapa1547–plural in same sense. Cf. the like use of ‘lots’.
- multitudine1547–1610As a mass noun: numerousness. As a count noun: a multitude, a crowd, a host.
- sort1548–In the same sense as preceding without qualifying adjective. Now dialect.
- myriads1555–In plural. Countless numbers of people or things; legions, hosts, hordes of the persons or things specified.
- myriads1559–In plural. Countless multitudes, hosts (with the objects intended inferred from the context).
- infinite1563–In hyperbolical use: An exceedingly large amount or number; a very great quantity or multitude; very… With article or other defining word…
- tot-quot1565An indefinite or infinite number; as many as you like.
- dickera1586–1722In extended use: a large quantity or number; a lot. Obsolete.
- multiplea1595Scottish. A multitude, a great number; = multiplie, n. Obsolete. rare.
- troop1596–Used to indicate a great number; a ‘lot’; esp. in plural ‘flocks’, ‘swarms’.
- multitudes1598In plural. Large numbers (of people or things).
- myriad1611–In singular. A countless multitude, a throng.
- sea-sands1656plural. Grains of sea-sand. Obsolete.
- plurality1657–A large number or quantity of; a multitude, a profusion.
- a vast many1695–a vast many, a great many. ? Obsolete.
- dozen1734A group or set of twelve. Originally as a noun, followed by of, but often with ellipsis of of, and thus, in singular = twelve. Also, used…
- a good few1756–Used as noun: a considerable number; also with of-phrase as complement.
- nation1762–A large number or amount of things or people. Now U.S. regional.
- vast1793–dialect. A very great number or amount.
- billion1801–colloquial. In hyperbolic use: a very large number or amount; a multitude.
- a wheen (of)1814–a wheen (of), a few: (in later use also) = a ‘good few’, a fair number.
- swad1828–A thick mass, clump, or bunch; hence, a great quantity (also plural).
- lot1833–Without of-phrase as complement. In plural. Also reduplicated.
- tribe1833–A number or company of persons or animals; a ‘troop’; in plural, large numbers, ‘flocks’.
- slew1839–A very large number of, a great amount of. Also in plural.
- such a many1841–Miscellaneous. such a few, such a many (colloquial): so few, so many.
- right smart1842–A considerable amount; a good deal, a lot.
- a million and one1856–(Indefinitely and hyperbolically) a very large number, a great many.
- horde1860–A large amount, number, or quantity of a thing or things. Now often in plural: masses, loads.
- a good several1865–elliptical and absol., esp. followed by of. a good several (nonce-use): a good many.
- sheaf1865–gen. Emphatically in plural: A large number, mass, or quantity.
- a (bad, good, etc.) sortc1869–So a (bad, good, etc.) sort, applied to a single person. colloquial.
- immense1872–Immense, boundless, or vast extent; immensity.
- dunnamuch1875–An unknown, but by implication considerable, quantity. Cf. dunnamany, n., much, pron. & n.C.2a.
- telephone number1880–a. = phone number, n.; b. colloquial a large number, esp. with reference to a large sum of money; frequently in to be talking telephone numbers; also…
- umpty1905–An indefinite number, usually fairly large. (Often used on an analogy with twenty, etc.) Military slang.
- dunnamany1906–An unknown quantity or amount, esp. one that is by implication considerable. Cf. dunnamuch, n.
- skit1913–A large number, a crowd; plural ‘lots’.
- umpteen1919–Such a number in the abstract.
- zillion1920–A very large but indefinite number or quantity (of something). Usually in plural.
- cricket score1925–The score in a cricket match; (hence) a high number; spec. (in sports other than cricket) an unusually high score.
- jillion1926–A very large or inestimable number or amount.
- gang1928–U.S. colloquial (chiefly in African American use). A large number or amount; a lot.
- gillion1931–A very large but indefinite number (cf. zillion, n.).
- scrillion1935–A very large (but indefinite) number or quantity (of something). Usually in plural.
- 900 number1977–In the United States and Canada: a telephone number with the digits 900 in place of an area code, chiefly used to access information or…
- gazillion1978–A very large (but indefinite) number or quantity (of something); chiefly in plural.
- fuckload1984–coarse slang (originally U.S.). A large number or amount; = shitload, n.
- gajillion1991–A very large (but indefinite) number or quantity (of something); chiefly in plural.
- adjective
- 1925–With an article, numeral, or other quantifier, and followed by a plural noun: amounting to a very large (but indefinite) number or quantity.
- 1925
If a baby Mastodon's first tooth excited the prehistoric age a couple of zillion years ago half as much as a grown Mastodon's tooth excites the moderns of 1925, there would have been quite a commotion..when baby cut its first 'un.
Sweetwater (Texas) Daily Reporter 25 October - 1976
She was going to break the story to her zillion readers.
J. Crosby, Snake (1977) xvii. 93 - 1983
Broken Hill Proprietary..is Australia's biggest company and a zillion times bigger than his own.
Sunday Telegraph 9 October 20/2 - 2001
Before I went to bed I explained..that I will not in a zillion years be going on the family excursion to Scotland tomorrow.
L. Rennison, Knocked out by Nunga-nungas 14
the world relative properties number plurality great number, numerousness [adjectives] used for large number- sevenOld English–One more than six. Used to denote a large number, quantity, or amount of something. In early use also in †this seven year (also †these seven years…
- fortya1616–Used indefinitely to express a large number. like forty (U.S. colloquial): with immense force or vigour, ‘like anything’.
- any1758–With quantitative force. colloquial. Of number or quantity: great, large, considerable; (also hyperbolically) unlimited, endless. See also any amount…
- squillion1878–Very many, countless.
- steen1886–An indefinite, (fairly) large number of; ‘umpteen’.
- steenth1895–a. Sixteenth. b. Latest in an indefinitely long series; ‘umpteenth’.
- trillionth1901–That is number one trillion (trillion, n. A.2a, A.2b) in a sequence: coming last in a series of a trillion. Frequently used hyperbolically to…
- umpty1916–An indefinite number of this kind, in adjectival use.
- umptieth1917–
- umpteen1918–An indefinite number, used in the sense ‘many, several’, etc.
- umpteenth1918–Designating an apparently indefinite but large number (stress variable.)
- zillion1925–With an article, numeral, or other quantifier, and followed by a plural noun: amounting to a very large (but indefinite) number or quantity.
- squillionth1927–That is an extremely high number in a sequence; coming last in an extremely long series. Also: that is a minute fraction or infinitesimal part of…
- jillion1929–Very many, countless.
- bazillion1939–With an article, number, or other quantifier, and followed by a plural noun: amounting to a very large (but indefinite) number or quantity.
- scrillion1945–With an article, numeral, or other quantifier, and followed by a plural noun: amounting to a very large (but indefinite) number or quantity.
- gajillion1983–With an article, number, or other quantifier, and followed by a plural noun: amounting to a very large (but indefinite) number or quantity.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Frequency
zillion typically occurs about 0.1 times per million words in modern written English.
zillion is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of zillion, n. & adj., 1900–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.0001 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0008 |
| 1930 | 0.0025 |
| 1940 | 0.0048 |
| 1950 | 0.011 |
| 1960 | 0.027 |
| 1970 | 0.065 |
| 1980 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 0.18 |
| 2010 | 0.22 |
Frequency of zillion, n. & adj., 2017–2024
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.18 |
| 2018 | 0.18 |
| 2019 | 0.18 |
| 2020 | 0.17 |
| 2021 | 0.17 |
| 2022 | 0.15 |
| 2023 | 0.15 |
| 2024 | 0.14 |
Compounds & derived words
- zillionaire, n. 1926–A person of enormous wealth.
- zillionth, n. & adj. 1940–A minute fraction of something.