- May
- Named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants. Also from the Latin word matores, "elders," who were celebrated during this month.
- Maies, month of the goddess Maia or of the elders (matores) or of growth.
- 1 May
-
Reawakening of earth; return of warmth, life and vegetationIreland Beltane Isle of Man Shenn da Boaldyn Scotland Bealtiunn Wales Galan-Mai
I have been doing some reading on quantum physics and had to get out the dictionary to make sure I understood the meaning of nugatory, which the author uses a lot. On the opposite page was a table comparing french and American numbers with the similarly named numbers in the British and German systems. I knew that the British meant something different when they talked about a billion, but I wasn't aware how different things get. Each name change signifies an increase of by a factor of a thousand (3 zeroes) in the French/US system while the corresponding increase in the UK/German system is by a factor of a million (6 zeroes). Below 1,000 the systems are at parity.
| French/US Equivalent | Zeroes | Name | Zeroes | UK/German Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 hundreds 1,000 | 3 | thousand | 3 | 10 hundreds 1,000 |
| 1,000 thousands 1,000,000 | 6 | million | 12 | 1,000,000 thousands 1,000,000,000,000 |
| 1,000 millions 1,000,000 | 9 | billion | 12 | 1,000,000 millions 1,000,000,000, 000 |
| 1,000 billions 1,000,000,000, 000 | 12 | trillion | 18 | 1,000,000 billions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000 |
| 1,000,000 trillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000 | 15 | quadrillion | 24 | 1,000,000 trillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 |
| 1,000 quadrillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000 | 18 | quintillion | 30 | 1,000,000 quadrillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000 |
| 1,000 quintillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000 | 21 | sextillion | 36 | 1,000,000 quintillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000 |
| 1,000 sextillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 | 24 | septillion | 42 | 1,000,000 sextillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 |
| 1,000 septillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000 | 27 | octillion | 48 | 1,000,000 septillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000 |
| 1,000 octillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000 | 30 | nonillion | 54 | 1,000,000 octillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000 |
| 1,000 nonillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 | 33 | decillion | 60 | 1,000,000 nonillions 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 |
That means that as the names of the numbers get increasingly larger the disparity between their respective magnitudes becomes even greater.
Things like this can lead to the loss of satellites if you are not aware and attentive.
