billon

See also: billón

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French billon, from Old French bille (“stick of wood”).

Noun

billon (countable and uncountable, plural billons)

1. Any of several alloys of precious metals and base metals that are used (where legal) to make coins, medals etc.

Related terms

• billet

See also

• bullion

Anagrams

• Bollin, LOLBin, no-bill

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish billón, with a semantic shift influenced by English billion.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: bi‧llon

Numeral

billón

1. billion (thousand million)

French

Etymology

From Old French bille (“stick of wood”), from Medieval Latin billa, billia, from Gaulish *belyos (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolyo- (“leaf”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.jɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

billon m (plural billons)

1. A log or hunk of wood
2. billon
3. ridge (in a ploughed field)

Derived terms

• billonnage
• billonner

Descendants

• → Catalan: billó
• → English: billon
• → Portuguese: bilhão

Further reading

• “billon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012