long scale

The system used in many European countries for numbers greater than one million. In the long scale, a billion is a million millions rather than a thousand millions, which is the "short scale. Often called the British numbering system, the long scale was used in the U.K. until the mid-1970s, and numbers in older British documents are in long scale. See space/time and binary values.

Short Scale (U.S.)
 One billion               1,000,000,000
 One trillion          1,000,000,000,000

 Long Scale (Europe)
 One billion           1,000,000,000,000
 One trillion  1,000,000,000,000,000,000

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

There are two systems for naming big numbers: the short scale and the long scale. The long scale was invented in the late 15th century in France and gives a new name to every number one million times bigger than the previous number.

The number name game

F1 in Schools challenges students to create their own Formula One team which is commissioned to design, construct and race the fastest miniature Formula One Car of the Future - a 21cm long scale model built from a block of balsa wood and powered by an air cylinder.

F1 dreams come true for children

F1 in Schools challenges students to create their own Formula One team which is commissioned to design, construct and race the fastest miniature F1 "Car of the Future", a 21cm long scale model built from a block of balsa wood and powered by a compressed air cylinder.

And they're off... to final of competition; Region's pupils battle it out for supremacy on the track

These ambient biological systems provide excellent examples of nanophasic materials with highly optimized characteristics resulting from evolution over a long scale of time [7] and the synthesis of inorganic materials may occur either extracellularly or intracellularly [8].

Study of Ti[O.sub.2] nanoparticles spraying effect on the some physiological parameters in barley (Hordem Vulgare L.)

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.