created 2025-03-04, & modified, =this.modified
tags:y2025numbersmathaggregator
rel: Words
NOTE
I’m not proficient in any of this higher level mathy math.
But the aspect of naming things, particular the bounding of this inconceivable vastness is intriguing. I like how a number can be basically inexpressible in a conventional way (as a matter of necessity, exhausting the written universe), but then becomes render in a new type of symbol or notation. It has that quality of touching the alien and unknown that I like.
And at some point it all becomes a bit formulaic, like you aren’t actually performing any action, just a kind of renaming operation where the reference just points back to what you were already looking at. False Decay and Simulated Weathering, Glamour and De-Glamour Why there’s a sign of Simulation
Ambiguous
Zillion (coined in the ’10s) is used colloquially where precision of a large number isn’t required. Etymologically it appears to derive from million, plus the inclusion of the variable z possibly denoting an unknown quantity.
“They’ll be as common as gunnysacks in Oakland in another year, I’ve been told. They’re going to bring ‘em over here—zillions of them.”
There are other imagined words in this category such as
- jillion (late ’30s)
- gazillion (early ’80s)
I feel each of these come with their own subtle word sense.
The Milliard also was a term for classifying large numbers. It represents a billion, or a thousand millions. The British used this till 1974, when the government switched officially.
The word Million also can carry an indefinite sense, when used in common speech (maybe due to accessibility). It’s etymological roots are a great thousand.
History
The ancient Greeks had no name for a number greater than ten thousand, the Romans for none higher than a hundred thousand. The Ancient Greeks used a system based on the myriad, that is, ten thousand, and their largest named number was a myriad myriad, or one hundred million.
Notation
Douglas Shamlin Jr. has a video of large numbers increasing. The final segment uses Bird’s array notation (BAN).
The items look like this
Rule A5c1 ([Ap] = [1 [B1] 1 [B2] ... 1 [Bq-1] 1 ¬ d #*], where q ≥ 1, d ≥ 2): S = ‘b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rb› b [Ap] c-1 #’, Rn = ‘b ‹B1’› b [B1] b ‹B2’› b [B2] ... b ‹Bq-1’› b [Bq-1] b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rn-1› b [Ap] c-1 # ¬ d-1 #*’ (n > 1), R1 = ‘0’. Rule A5c2 ([Ap] = [1 [B1] 1 [B2] ... 1 [Bq] d #*], where [Bq] = [1 [C1] 1 [C2] ... 1 [Cr-1] 1 ♦ e #**] and q ≥ 1, r ≥ 1, d ≥ 2, e ≥ 2): S = ‘b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rb› b [Ap] c-1 #’, Rn = ‘b ‹B1’› b [B1] b ‹B2’› b [B2] ... b ‹Bq-1’› b [Bq-1] b ‹Tn› b [Bq] d-1 #*’ (n > 1), Tn = ‘b ‹C1’› b [C1] b ‹C2’› b [C2] ... b ‹Cr-1’› b [Cr-1] b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rn-1› b [Ap] c-1 # ♦ e-1 #**’ (n > 1), R1 = ‘0’. Rule A5c3 ([Ap] = [1 [B1] 1 [B2] ... 1 [Bq] d #*], where [Bq] = [1 [C1] 1 [C2] ... 1 [Cr] e #**], where [Cr] = [1 ☼ k #***] and q ≥ 1, r ≥ 1, d ≥ 2, e ≥ 2, k ≥ 2): S = ‘b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rb› b [Ap] c-1 #’, Rn = ‘b ‹B1’› b [B1] b ‹B2’› b [B2] ... b ‹Bq-1’› b [Bq-1] b ‹Tn› b [Bq] d-1 #*’ (n > 1), Tn = ‘b ‹C1’› b [C1] b ‹C2’› b [C2] ... b ‹Cr-1’› b [Cr-1] b ‹Un› b [Cr] e-1 #**’ (n > 1), Un = ‘b ‹A1’› b [A1] b ‹A2’› b [A2] ... b ‹Ap-1’› b [Ap-1] b ‹Rn-1› b [Ap] c-1 # ☼ k-1 #***’ (n > 1), R1 = ‘0’.