How to Say "Trillion" in Korean

조

jo[t͡ɕo̞]

The English word 'trillion' is translated into Korean as 조 (jo). Wiktionary also lists 만억 (maneok).

Meaning: a million million, 1012 (num)

Ways to say it

“trillion” in Korean
Korean	Romanization (Wiktionary)	IPA
조	jo	[t͡ɕo̞] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow)
만억	maneok	[ˈma̠(ː)nʌ̹k̚] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow)

Both 조 and 만억 refer to the number 10¹², which is a million million.

The romanization is jo.

While English counts in groups of three zeros (thousand, million, billion), Korean uses a base-four system of four zeros, meaning the number 만억 is literally 'ten thousand hundred million'.
If you use the term 조 in a historical context, it could also be interpreted as 'dynasty', depending on the Hanja used.
In ancient East Asian contexts, the value of 조 was not always 10¹². Depending on the historical era and the mathematical system used, it could have represented different powers of ten.

Jihoon and Minji are discussing the economy.

지훈 Ji-hun

요즘 경제 규모가 정말 커진 것 같아요.
Yojeum gyeongje gyumo-ga jeongmal keojin geot gatayo.
I feel like the scale of the economy has grown so much lately.
민지 Min-ji

맞아요. 예산이 이제 조 단위로 움직이더라고요.
Majayo. Yesan-i ije jo danwiro umjigideoragoyo.
True. The budget now moves in the trillions.
지훈 Ji-hun

정말 상상도 못 할 만큼 큰 금액이네요.
Jeongmal sangsang-do mot hal mankeum keun geumaeg-ineyo.
That is an amount of money too large to even imagine.
민지 Min-ji

그러게요. 숫자가 너무 커서 어질어질해요.
Geureogeyo. Sutja-ga neomu keoseo eojireojilhaeyo.
I agree. The numbers are so big it makes me dizzy.

Sources

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