Millions
/ˈmɪljənz/noun
Plural of million, meaning an extremely large number or, informally, many people or things.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Latin *mille* (“thousand”), and the suffix that created *million* spread through medieval Italian and French bookkeeping before English inherited it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sm̥ḱlom / *mél-
“Ancient root behind the idea of a thousand and counting in large units”
Latin
Latin
mille
“One thousand”
Medieval Latin
Latin
millio
“A thousand thousand; a very large unspecified number”
Old French
Old French
milion
“A million”
14th–15th Century
English
million
“A million; one thousand thousands”
Modern English
English
millions
“Plural form used for very large numbers or large groups”
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