शंख
śaṅkh/ʃəŋkʰ/
The English phrase trillion is expressed in Hindi as शंख (śaṅkh).
The word is used to denote the number 10¹², which is equivalent to a million million.
Meaning: a million million, 1012 (num)
Which one should you use?
You may also encounter त्रिलियन in formal contexts or the informal expression लाख करोड़ to convey the same scale of number.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is śaṅkh. The IPA is /ʃəŋkʰ/.
Did you know?
- The word शंख literally means 'conch shell' in Hindi and Sanskrit. In ancient India, large numbers were often named after sacred objects or celestial bodies.
- The term शंख is part of an ancient Vedic counting system that predates modern western notation. This system allowed for naming incredibly large cosmic quantities long before the 'trillion' was a common concept in Europe.
- While English uses a scale based on powers of one thousand, Indian numbering systems use a completely different system of grouping by thousands, lakhs, and crores. This makes translating large numbers like 'trillion' into traditional Hindi terms quite complex.
Example conversation
Neha and Aditya are discussing global economics.
- नेहा Nehaइस कंपनी की कीमत एक शंख है।Is company ki keemat ek shankh hai.This company is worth one trillion.
- आदित्य Adityaयह तो बहुत ज़्यादा है!Yeh toh bahut zyada hai!That is way too much!
- नेहा Nehaहाँ, यह दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी कंपनी है।Haan, yeh duniya ki sabse badi company hai.Yes, it is the biggest company in the world.
- आदित्य Adityaमुझे यकीन नहीं हो रहा है।Mujhe yakeen nahi ho raha hai.I can't believe it.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry शंख, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
