millionaire
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millionaire
A person who owns assets worth one million or more units of a currency (e.g. euros or dollars).
Durch den Verkauf seiner Firma wurde er über Nacht zum Millionär.
By selling his company, he became a millionaire overnight.
The word derives from 'die Million' (million). The ending '-är' comes from French and often refers to a person who is connected with something.
Er träumt davon, eines Tages Millionär zu sein.
He dreams of being a millionaire one day.
The word 'Millionär' (millionaire) is part of a clear word family. People with even greater wealth are formed according to the same pattern: 'Multimillionär' (multimillionaire) and 'Milliardär' (billionaire).
Der Unternehmer ist heute nicht nur Millionär, sondern sogar Milliardär.
Today the entrepreneur is not only a millionaire, but even a billionaire.
A very common expression is 'zum Millionär werden' (to become a millionaire). It describes the process of becoming rich and uses the preposition 'zu' with the dative.
Mit seiner App-Idee ist er fast über Nacht zum Millionär geworden.
With his app idea, he became a millionaire almost overnight.
billionaire
'der Millionär' and 'der Milliardär' both refer to very rich people. The difference lies in the size of their wealth. A 'Millionär' owns at least one million; a 'Milliardär' owns at least one billion. One billion is one thousand million. Learners can easily confuse the words because they look similar and both have to do with great wealth. If it is only about one or several millions, you say 'Millionär'. For wealth of one billion or more, you say 'Milliardär'.
Nach dem Verkauf seiner Firma wurde Max Millionär.
After selling his company, Max became a millionaire.
Der Milliardär spendete viel Geld für neue Krankenhäuser.
The billionaire donated a lot of money for new hospitals.