Standard Dictionary Numbers
| Name | Short scale (U.S. and modern British) |
Long scale (continental Europe, older British) |
Authorities | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHD4 | CED | COD | OED2 | OEDnew | RHD2 | SOED3 | W3 | UM | |||
| Million | 106 | 106 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Milliard | 109 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Billion | 109 | 1012 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trillion | 1012 | 1018 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quadrillion | 1015 | 1024 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Quintillion | 1018 | 1030 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Sextillion | 1021 | 1036 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Septillion | 1024 | 1042 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Octillion | 1027 | 1048 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Nonillion | 1030 | 1054 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Decillion | 1033 | 1060 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Undecillion | 1036 | 1066 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Duodecillion | 1039 | 1072 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Tredecillion | 1042 | 1078 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Quattuordecillion | 1045 | 1084 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Quindecillion (Quinquadecillion) | 1048 | 1090 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Sexdecillion (Sedecillion) | 1051 | 1096 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Septendecillion | 1054 | 10102 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Octodecillion | 1057 | 10108 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Novemdecillion (Novendecillion) | 1060 | 10114 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Vigintillion | 1063 | 10120 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Centillion | 10303 | 10600 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Name | Value | Authorities | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHD4 | CED | COD | OED2 | OEDnew | RHD2 | SOED3 | W3 | UM | ||
| Googol | 10100 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Googolplex | 10Googol | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Apart from million, the words in this list ending with -illion are all derived by adding prefixes (bi-, tri-, etc., derived from Latin) to the stem -illion. Centillion appears to be the highest name ending in -"illion" that is included in these dictionaries. Trigintillion, often cited as a word in discussions of names of large numbers, is not included in any of them, nor are any of the names that can easily be created by extending the naming pattern (unvigintillion, duovigintillion, duoquinquagintillion, etc.).
All of the dictionaries included googol and googolplex, generally crediting it to the Kasner and Newman book and to Kasner's nephew. None include any higher names in the googol family (googolduplex, etc.). The Oxford English Dictionary comments that googol and googolplex are "not in formal mathematical use".
Read more about this topic: Names Of Large Numbers
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“I had but three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship; three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)