The word is still used by countries that use the 'long scale', which has the nice property that a billion = (1 million)^2 and a quadrillion = (1 million)^4 etc. If you can count in greek this also means that an n-illion times an m-illion equals an (n+m)-illion.
Apparently [1], both ways of counting originate from France. This 'superior' way came first and was adapted by the British, then our current way of naming was created and adopted by the US. Wiki says this one then became the standard because of USA's dominance in the financial world.
