billiard

See also: billiárd and Billiard

English

Etymology 1

From French billard, originally referring to the wooden cue stick, diminutive of Old French bille (“log, tree trunk”), from Vulgar Latin *bilia, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bile (“large tree, tree trunk”)), from Proto-Celtic *belyos (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolh₃yos (“leaf”), from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɪl.i.ə(ɹ)d/
Audio (UK) (file)

Noun

billiard (plural billiards)

A shot in billiards or snooker in which the cue ball strikes two other balls; a carom.
(attributive) Pertaining to the game of billiards.
a billiard table; a billiard ball
A dynamical system in which a particle alternates between motion in a straight line and specular reflections from a boundary.

Derived terms

billiard ball
billiard room
billiard table

Translations

a shot in billiards or snooker

Finnish: kara (fi)
French: carambole (fr) f (only in french billiard, a.k.a. carambole)

Etymology 2

From French billiard, equivalent to bi- (“two”) +‎ -illiard.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɪl.i.ɑː(ɹ)d/

Numeral

billiard (plural billiards)

(Britain, rare) 10¹⁵, a thousand billion (long scale) or a million milliard.

Synonyms

(10¹⁵): a short scale quadrillion

Translations

a million milliards — See also translations at quadrillion

Finnish: biljardi (fi)
French: billiard (fr) m
German: Billiarde (de) f
Spanish: billardo m

French

**French numbers ^(edit)**
← 1,000,000,000 (10⁹)	^{[a], [b], [c]} ← 10¹²	10¹⁵	10¹⁸ → ^{[a], [b], [c]}	10²¹ → ^{[a], [b], [c]}
Cardinal (traditional spelling): un billiard, un million de milliards Cardinal (post-1990 spelling): un-billiard, un-million de milliards Ordinal: billiardième, millionième de milliardième
French Wikipedia article on 10¹⁵

Etymology

From bi- (“two”) +‎ -illiard.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi.ljaʁ/
Audio (file)

Numeral

billiard m (plural billiards)

quadrillion (10¹⁵)