By an eHow Contributor
While "millionaire" refers to anyone who possesses over 1 million units of any given currency, it has come to define a style, a swagger, a societal goal and a status
History
- Technically, the word "millionaire" comes from the French, but the first man to whom it was applied was Pierre Lorillard II, a New York tobacco magnate, in his obituary in 1843. Since then, it has developed its high-flown status due to novels like "The Great Gatsby" that idolized the wealthy, and the pervasiveness of hip-hop culture, which places high status on those with wealth and its manifestations like "bling," cars and clothes.
Significance
- In truth, having 1 million dollars is not what it used to be. One million dollars in 1900 would be worth more that 24 million dollars today. While having 1 million dollars puts you in about the top .15 percent of the world's population, having more than 30 million dollars puts you in the top .001 percent. If you are female, that kind of wealth is much more significant: The only country with more female millionaires than male ones is Scotland.
Types
- While, as we have established, a millionaire refers to someone who is in possession of 1 or more million units of currency; a multimillionaire refers to someone with more than 22 million units. Interestingly, people incorrectly refer to those with more than 100 million units of currency as "centamillionaires," but this would technically put them in possession of 1/100 million (or 10,000). The correct term is hectamilllionaire. A billionaire is a millionaire 1,000 times over.
Theories/Speculation
- It is said by some that the average American 20-something will have to save more than $2 million in personal assets to retire comfortably because of the state of Social Security. Considering that a little more than .6 percent of the American population has currently attained millionaire status, what does that say for the future of Americans?
Warning
- It takes a lot more than $1 million to live the life of a movie star or an international superstar. It could be that a billionaire is now what was initially thought of as a millionaire in terms of societal esteem--but the term does still hold the clout that it once did, even if it doesn't have the economic effect to back it up.
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