billon

noun

bil·​lon ˈbi-lən How to pronounce billon (audio)
1
: gold or silver heavily alloyed with a less valuable metal
2
: an alloy of silver containing more than 50 percent of copper by weight

Examples of billon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The first large-scale venture by Oxy, costing $1.3 billon in the Permian basin of West Texas, is called Stratos. Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024 State government coffers include several billon dollars that can be accessed for future recovery spending. CBS News, 24 Oct. 2024 There is debate over what the exact costs of the new debt relief plan will be, but one estimate puts its price tag at around $147 billion, rather than the hundreds of billons of dollars alleged by the states. Annie Nova, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2024 The video site, which Wojcicki pushed Google to acquire in 2006, generated $8.7 billon in advertising revenue in the second quarter. Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for billon 

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from bille log — more at billet

First Known Use

1716, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of billon was in 1716

Dictionary Entries Near billon

Cite this Entry

“Billon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billon. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.

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