兆 | zhào

In Mandarin Chinese, 兆 (Pinyin: zhào) is a word for “sign” or “omen”. In Mainland China, it also means “million” (i.e. 10⁶), as in 兆瓦 (zhào wǎ), “megawatt”. However, in Japanese the very kanji 兆 stands for “trillion”, i.e. “million million” (this meaning is now obsolete in Mainland China).

Alternative, and less ambiguous, way of expressing the number 10⁶ is 百万 / 百萬 (bǎiwàn), that is, 百 “hundred” by 万 “ten thousand”. Alternative way of expressing the number 10¹² is 亿万 / 億萬 (yìwàn), i.e. 亿 (10⁸) by 万 (10⁴). In Mainland China, 太 (tài) is used as prefix “tera-” (10¹²).

According to Uncle Hanzi, 兆 originally represented “the cracks in oracle bones caused by fire which were thought to be signs (omens) of the future”.

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