百萬 / 百万
baak³ maan⁶
The English word 'million' is translated into Cantonese as 百萬 / 百万 (baak³ maan⁶).
To say exactly 'one million', it is common to add the number one at the beginning, resulting in 一百萬.
Meaning: cardinal number (num)
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Hong Kong, the colloquial term 百萬蚊 is particularly popular for informal conversations about money.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is baak³ maan⁶.
Did you know?
- The number 萬 ('ten thousand') is so central to the Cantonese counting system that it is often used as a generic term for 'a great many' or 'innumerable' in idioms.
- While English counts in thousands, Cantonese uses a base-ten-thousand system. 百萬 literally means 'one hundred ten-thousands', as the primary counting unit is 萬 ('ten thousand').
- The word 萬 ('ten thousand') is frequently used in the phrase 萬事如意, meaning 'may ten thousand things go your way', turning the numerical base of 'million' into a wish for total success.
Example sentences for Cantonese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “million” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
