multimillionn.adj.
/ˌmʌltɪˈmɪljən/, U.S. /ˌməltiˈmɪlj(ə)n/, /ˌməltaɪˈmɪlj(ə)n/; see also multi- comb. form. A. n.
In plural and (rare) singular. Many millions; many millions of pounds (dollars, etc.).
ΚΠ
1892 Tyrone (Penn.) Daily Herald 19 Dec. 2/1 The awful object lesson has thrilled the multimillions of stellar population.
1916 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 22 374 Millions upon millions for this junk of the past, multimillions for art collections, for the trappings of fallen nobility, [etc.].
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Multimillion, many millions (as of dollars)—usu. used in pl.
1976 Sci. Amer. Sept. 218/2 The cars in their multimillions..speed along freeways.
1994 Harper's Sept. 44 He with his multimillions for playing basketball.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Feb. c4/2 ‘Newbos: The Rise of America's New Black Overclass’..is a series of profiles of black multimillionaires who have made their multimillions in sports and entertainment.
B. adj.
1. With a monetary unit (usually dollars or pounds): to a value of several or many millions. Also with ellipsis of the monetary unit: costing or valued at several or many millions of pounds (dollars, etc.).
ΚΠ
1909 Lima (Ohio) Times-Democrat 11 Mar. 4/2 The defeat of the bill to have an authentic inventory made of the state's multi-million dollars worth of property.
1929 Kansas City (Missouri) Star 23 Dec. 16/5 A multimillion-dollar corporation.
1942 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 15 447 A multimillion-dollar powder plant or defense industry could scarcely be manned exclusively by the local sons and daughters of a small town.
1966 Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. ix/4 It is a multi-million dollar operation.
1973 W. Soyinka Season of Anomy iv. 54 I wonder whether you know the real extent of the multi-million industry.
1992 Scotsman 16 Apr. 18/8 A multi-million refinancing package designed to secure the company's future.
2000 Independent on Sunday 9 Apr. i. 13/1 Teenage dancers are imported from India and Pakistan in the service of a multimillion-pound sex industry.
2. With other (non-monetary) units: having or involving several or many millions of the unit specified.
ΚΠ
1948 Amer. Jrnl. Roentgenology 59 771/2 Multimillion volt beta rays and multimillion volt roentgen rays in the treatment of cancer.
1991 Locus Sept. 19/1 She finds there—an explanation..of the nature and multimillion-year history of the Enemy.
1998 Review (Rio Tinto plc) June 7/2 Multimillion gallon vats used in refining.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1892