Hi, everyone:
Could I write "mm" to represent "million" for short?
Best wishes
Yes, you can post "MM" as an abbreviation for "million". MM is a pretty standard abbreviation for Million. It comes from Latin "Mille" meaning "thousand", so MM is a "thousand thousands" which equals one million.
"MM" is widely used in the financial industry.
Yes, you can post "MM" as an abbreviation for "million". MM is a pretty standard abbreviation for Million. It comes from Latin "Mille" meaning "thousand", so MM is a "thousand thousands" which equals one million."MM" is widely used in the financial industry.
While you say it is a "pretty standard abbreviation for Million," it's one which most English speakers would not recognize. Not only is it not in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.--which for "MM" gives only the meaning "messieurs"--it's not even in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged! Neither dictionary shows the meaning "millions" for "mm," either.
If the writer is going to use it, he should explain it first, unless he knows for certain that the audience he is writing for would understand it.
Thanks for that, Ask230, and welcome to the forum
I can't remember the last time I had a bank statement that ran into the millions (I don't suppose you meant that kind of statement) ~ I'll try and bear it in mind the next time I read an SEC filing.
While you say it is a "pretty standard abbreviation for Million," it's one which most English speakers would not recognize. Not only is it not in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.--which for "MM" gives only the meaning "messieurs"--it's not even in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged! Neither dictionary shows the meaning "millions" for "mm," either.
If the writer is going to use it, he should explain it first, unless he knows for certain that the audience he is writing for would understand it.
Hello beam, and welcome to WordReference.[...] On the other hand, 99% of all "English Speaking" accountants, financiers, bankers, comptrollers, lawyers, financial trustees, investors, brokers, etc. know that mm is an abbreviation for million--and "m" is an abreviation for "thousand", as laid out in Jstanek's post.
[...]
Hello beam, and welcome to WordReference.
On the basis of your statement, 99% of all English speaking ... etc are at odds with the SI international system of units and abbreviations.
That's not at all unlikely, of course.
Hello beam, and welcome to WordReference.
On the basis of your statement, 99% of all English speaking ... etc are at odds with the SI international system of units and abbreviations.
That's not at all unlikely, of course.
It does seem like 99% of US industry is at odds with the SI system and I can speak with experience, rather large companies Shell and P&G both use M as thousand and MM as Millions. I'm fairly confident a majority of the US industries that don't use SI use this convention. It is definitely nothing more than a convention however.
I'm not sure why people keep drawing comparisons to the SI system because it has absolutely nothing to do with this thread.
That maybe true or not.