millionfoldadv.adj.
/ˈmɪljənfəʊld/, U.S. /ˈmɪljənˌfoʊld/ Frequently in hyperbolical use.
A. adv.
Usually with indefinite article. A million times (the amount specified or implied); in the proportion of a million to one.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > hundred and over > [adverb] > millionfold
millionfold1592
1592 H. Constable Diana x. sig. Cv My losse of life a million fold were lesse, than the least losse should vnto you befall.
1850 N. Hawthorne Scarlet Let. viii. 134 Endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin.
1869 R. A. Proctor Light Sci. (1871) 296 The radius..might be increased a million-fold.
1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. p. v He [sc. the average man] reads his syndicated news and imbibes his millionfold-disseminated opinions.
1944 L. Mumford Condition of Man vii. 255 By reason of the invention of printing, the personal power of the writer whose works might be printed and reprinted in age after age was increased potentially many millionfold.
1989 I. Asimov Nemesis 331 How can there be no acceleration when you increase the speed a millionfold in an instant?
B. adj.
A million times as many or as much.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > hundred and over > [adjective] > million > counted in millions
millioned1609
millionous1666
millionfold1865
1865 D. Masson Recent Brit. Philos. 256 Strengthened, enlarged, and educated by millionfold repetitions and associations.
1873 J. Tyndall On Light i. 24 Snell's law of refraction is one of the corner-stones of optical science, and its applications to-day are millionfold.
1929 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us i. 34 The last step of all..involves a million-fold increase.
1994 Observatory 114 132 Sub-Arcsecond Radio Astronomy, a compendium of observational results showing that a million-fold improvement in resolution is now routine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.adj.1592