Indefinite and fictitious numbers#Sagan

Umpteen, umteen or umpty is an unspecified but large number, used in a humorous fashion or to imply that it is not worth the effort to pin down the actual figure. Despite the -teen ending, which would seem to indicate that it lies between 12 and 20, umpteen can be much larger.

The oldest reference to "umpty" — in a June 17, 1848 issue of the Louisville Morning Courier — indicates that at that time it was slang for empty.{{cite web|title=River Imports|url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/118713849/?match=1&terms=umpty|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=16 October 2024}} (Available online to subscribers.) This is confirmed by a humorous short story in the North Carolina Hillsborough Recorder of June 30, 1852.{{cite web|title=The Pocket Book.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/64493481/?match=1&terms=umpty|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=16 October 2024}} (Available online to subscribers.)

By 1905, "umpty", in the expression "umpty-seven", had come to imply a multiple of ten.{{cite web|title=Umpty|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/208902|work=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=14 April 2012}} (available online to subscribers)Warren Harding, quoted in Advertising & Selling 29:28-52:26 (1920) Umpty came from a verbalization of a dash in Morse code.

"Umpteen", adding the ending -teen, as in "thirteen", is first attested in 1884,{{cite web|title=Umpteen|url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/34926349/?match=1&terms=umteenth|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=17 October 2024}} (Available online to subscribers.)The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.{{cite web|title=Umpteen|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/208901|work=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=14 April 2012}} (available online to subscribers)[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umpteen Umpteen], [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ Merriam-Webster]. Accessed 2014-06-29. and has become by far the most common form.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=umpteen,umteen,umpty&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1;,umpteen;,c0;.t1;,umteen;,c0;.t1;,umpty;,c0|title=Google Ngram Viewer|website=books.google.com|access-date=1 April 2018}}

In Norwegian, ørten is used in a similar way, playing on the numbers from tretten (13) to nitten (19), but often signifying a much larger number.{{cite web|url=https://www.naob.no/ordbok/%C3%B8rten|title=Det Norske Akademis ordbok: ørten|website=www.naob.no|access-date=2019-12-23}}

Similarly, though with a larger base, Portuguese has milhentos, which is derived from the words mil(har) (1000) and the suffix -entos, present in words like trezentos (300) or quinhentos (500), roughly meaning "hundred".{{Cite web |last=S.A |first=Priberam Informática |title=milhentos |url=https://dicionario.priberam.org/milhentos |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=Dicionário Priberam |language=pt-br}}

{{Redirect|Zillion}}

Words with the suffix -illion (e.g., zillion,{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zillion|title=Definition of ZILLION|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=1 April 2018}} gazillion,Included in the standard dictionary included with Microsoft Word word-processing software bazillion,{{Cite web|title=Definition of BAZILLION|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bazillion|access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}} jillion,{{cite book| page=1103| title =The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English| volume= 2| editor1-last=Partridge |editor1-first= Eric |editor1-link= Eric Partridge |editor2-last=Dalzell |editor3-last=Victor |editor3-first=Terry | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2006 |isbn= 0-415-25938-X}} bajillion,{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bajillion|title=Definition of Bajillion|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=7 March 2021}} squillion,{{cite web |title=squillion |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/squillion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104170101/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/squillion |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2018 |website=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=4 November 2018 |ref=23}} and others) are often used as informal names for unspecified large numbers by analogy to names of large numbers such as million (10⁶), billion (10⁹) and trillion (10¹²). In Estonian, the compound word mustmiljon ("black million") is used to mean an unfathomably large number. In Hungarian, csilliárd is used{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} in the same "indefinitely large number" sense as "zillion" in English, and is thought to be a humorous portmanteau of the words csillag ("star", referring to the vast number of stars) and milliárd ("billion", cf. long scale).

These words are intended to denote a number that is large enough to be unfathomable and are typically used as hyperbole or for comic effect. They have no precise value or order. They form ordinals and fractions with the usual suffix -th, e.g. "I asked her for the jillionth time", or are used with the suffix "-aire" to describe a wealthy person.

A sagan or sagan unit is a facetious name for a very large number inspired by Carl Sagan's association with the phrase "billions and billions".William Safire, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E3DF143EF934A25757C0A962958260 ON LANGUAGE; Footprints on the Infobahn], New York Times, April 17, 1994 It is not to be confused with Sagan's number, the number of stars in the observable universe.

In context, a specific numeric value may be used to mean an unspecific quantity. Following are examples.

Some words that have a precise numerical definition can be used indefinitely. For example: couple (2),"couple (noun)", Merriam-Webster Dictionary, [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/couple definition 4] dozen (12), score (20); myriad (10,000).

When a quantity word is prefixed with an indefinite article then it is sometimes intended or interpreted to be indefinite. For example, "one million" is clearly definite, but "a million" could be used to mean either a definite (she has a million followers now) or an indefinite value (she signed what felt like a million papers).

The title The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (lit. "a thousand nights and one night") implies a large number of nights. Many book titles use this convention as well; such as 1,001 Uses for ....

In Chinese, {{Zh|c=|s={{linktext|十万八千里}}|t={{linktext|十萬八千里}}|p=shí wàn bā qiān lǐ|labels=no|first=t}}, 108,000 li, means a great distance.

In Danish, hundrede og sytten ("a hundred and seventeen") can mean any arbitrary number.{{Cite web|url=https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=17|title=ORDNET.DK Dansk sprog i ordbøger og korpus}}

In French, 36 and 36,000 are occasionally used as a synonym for "very many".

In Hebrew and other Middle Eastern traditions, the number 40 is used to express a large but unspecific number,A.D. Alderson, Fahir İz, The Concise Oxford Turkish Dictionary, Oxford, 1959, s.v. kırk: "Forty; used especially to denote a large indefinite number"Biblical Criticism", The Classical Journal 36:71:83ff (March 1827) [https://books.google.com/books?id=qXg_AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA83 full text] as in the Hebrew Bible's "forty days and forty nights", Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.Michael David Coogan, A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context, Oxford, 2008, p. 116{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title= Numbers and numerals |url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11619-numbers-and-numerals#anchor3 |first=Caspar |last=Levias |volume=9 |page=349 |access-date=2017-04-27}} "Forty: Stands in the Bible for a generation (e.g., the forty years of wandering in the desert), hence for any period of time the exact duration of which is unknown (comp. Gen. vii. 4, 12, 17; viii. 6; Ex. xxiv. 18, xxxiv. 28; Deut. ix. 9, 11, 18; x. 10; I Sam. xvii. 16; I Kings xix. 8; Jonah iii. 4). In later literature forty is commonly used as a round number (comp. Giṭ. 39b, 40a; Soṭah 34a; Yer. Ta'an. iv. 8; et al.)." This usage is sometimes found in English as well (for example, "forty winks").Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, s.v. 'forty' A.b.{{cite web| url=https://wordhistories.net/2017/11/16/forty-winks-origin/| title=Meaning and Origin of 'Forty Winks'| last=Tréguer| first=Pascal| date=November 16, 2017| website=Word Histories}}

In Hungarian there are several expressions meaning "very many". A traditional expression is mint égen a csillag ("as many as the stars" in the sky). Sometimes specific numbers (e.g., 36,000 or 60,000) are used like in Danish or in French. Kismillió ("little million") is somewhat old, but a few decades ago it was still in use. From the end of the 20th century csillió began to spread. Csillió is a new word: it may be the result of combining the words csillag (star), [https://e-nyelv.hu/2023-04-09/csillio/ e-nyelv.hu: Hogy alakult ki a csillió jelentés?] and millió (million).[https://wikiszotar.hu/ertelmezo-szotar/Csilli%C3%B3 Csillió szó jelentése] Its enhanced version is csilliárd combining csillag and milliárd (billion).[https://e-nyelv.hu/2023-02-24/csillio-csilliard/ e-nyelv.hu: csillió, csilliárd]

In Irish, 100,000 (céad míle) is used, as in the phrase céad míle fáilte, "a hundred thousand welcomes" or Gabriel Rosenstock's poetic phrase {{Langx|ga|mo chéad míle grá}} ("my hundred thousand loves").{{Cite web |url=http://www.ancarn.org/uploads/1398944377Cl-r-na-Feise-B-ARLA-9-4-14.pdf |title=Feis Charn Tóchair 2014 | page = 32 |archive-date=2017-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403111523/http://www.ancarn.org/uploads/1398944377Cl-r-na-Feise-B-ARLA-9-4-14.pdf | date = 2014-06-07 | url-status=dead | publisher = Carntogher Community Association }}

In Japanese, {{nihongo2|{{linktext|八千}}}}, 8000, is used: {{nihongo2|八千草}} (lit. 8,000 herbs) means a variety of herbs and {{nihongo2|八千代}} (lit. 8,000 generations) means eternity.

In Latin, {{Langx|la|sescenti|label=none}} (600) was used to mean a very large number, perhaps from the size of a Roman cohort.Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsescenti sescenti] The modern word million derives from an Italian augmentative of the Latin word for thousand, {{Langx|la|mille|label=none}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/million|title=Million|website=Online Etymological Dictionary|access-date=19 August 2022}}

In Polish, tysiąc pięćset sto dziewięćset ("one thousand five hundred one hundred nine hundred") is used, to refer to an indefinitely large number.{{cite web|url=https://wsjp.pl/haslo/do_druku/76765/tysiac-piecset-sto-dziewiecset|website=Institute of Polish Language, PAN|title=Wielki Słownik Języka Polskiego}}

In Scottish Gaelic, 100,000 (ceud mìle) is used to mean a great number, as in the phrase ceud mìle fàilte, "a hundred thousand welcomes."{{Cite web |title=Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: sndns743 |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sndns743 |access-date=2024-05-16}}

In Swedish, {{Langx|sv|femtioelva|label=none}} or {{Langx|sv|sjuttioelva|label=none}} is used ({{lit}} "fifty-eleven" and "seventy-eleven", although never actually intended to refer to the numbers 61 and 81).

In Thai, ร้อยแปด (roi paed) means both 108 and miscellaneous, various, plentiful.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1389866.html|title=ร้อยแปด - Thai / English dictionary meaning - ร้อยแปด ภาษาอังกฤษ แปล ความหมาย|website=www.thai2english.com|language=en|access-date=2019-02-03}}

In Welsh, cant a mil, literally "a hundred and thousand", is used to mean a large number in a similar way to English "a hundred and one".{{Cite web|url=http://welsh-dictionary.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?cant_a_mil|title=Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online}} It is used in phrases such as cant a mil o bethau i'w wneud "a hundred and one things to do" i.e. "many, many things to do".

The number 10,000 is used to express an even larger approximate number, as in Hebrew {{lang|he|{{linktext|רבבה}}}} r^evâvâh,{{cite web|url=http://studybible.info/strongs/H7233|title=H7233 רבבה - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon|website=studybible.info|access-date=1 April 2018}} rendered into Greek as {{Langx|el|{{linktext|μυριάδες}}|label=none}}, and to English myriad.Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, s.v. 'myriad' Similar usage is found in the East Asian {{lang|zh|{{linktext|萬}}}} or {{lang|zh|{{linktext|万}}}} (lit. 10,000; {{Zh|c=|s=|t=|p=wàn}}), and the South Asian lakh (lit. 100,000).Oxford English Dictionary 1st ed., s.v. 'lakh'

{{wiktionary|Thesaurus:zillion}}

• {{annotated link|1000 percent}}
• {{annotated link|Infinity}}
• {{annotated link|It's Over 9000!}}
• {{annotated link|List of unusual units of measurement}}
• {{annotated link|List of humorous units of measurement}}
• {{annotated link|Large numbers}}
• {{annotated link|Names of large numbers}}
• {{annotated link|Unobtainium}}
• {{annotated link|Not a number}}

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{{Large numbers}}

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Category:Large numbers

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