Milliard

Milliard is a naming for the number 1,000,000,000, or 10^9. It is used in several European languages to denote this exact value and to avoid ambiguity in texts that reference large scales. In English, the word is uncommon today and “billion” is usually used for 10^9 in the short scale.

In many languages, the equivalent term is a direct cognate of milliard or miliardo, including German Milliarde, French milliard, Italian miliardo, Russian миллиарда (mil'yar'da), and Dutch miljard. These forms all denote 10^9. Other languages use phrases such as mil millones or mil millones to express the same quantity, rather than a single word.

The term’s usage is closely tied to the long scale versus short scale distinction for large numbers. In the long scale, historically used in parts of Europe, a billion meant 10^12 and a milliard (or miliard) meant 10^9. In the short scale, standard in English-speaking countries, a billion is 10^9 and a trillion is 10^12. The word milliard thus helps maintain unambiguous reference when texts are translated between scales or when multilingual readers are involved.

Etymology traces to a formation related to mille (thousand) with a suffix used in large-number terms in several languages. Cognates appear across many European languages, reinforcing its role as a cross-lultural numeric term.