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century

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of century of years.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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century (plural centuries)

  2. A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.
    Synonyms: age, centennium (rare), yearhundred (rare), centenary (obsolete)
    Holonyms: kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
    Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < microcentury (humorous) < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.
    • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist‎[1], volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 4 April 2021:
      Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
    • 2024 March 31, Glen Jankowski, “Alopecia in art history: The many ways women’s hair loss has been interpreted”, in CNN‎[2], archived from the original on 28 November 2025:
      In 16th and 17th century Britain, for example, women’s alopecia was sometimes interpreted as retribution for sins, including adultery.
    • 2024 September 30, Michael Doran, “EXCEPTIONALISM AND ASSIMILATIONISM IN FEDERAL INDIAN LAW”, in Stanford Law School‎[3], volume 20, number 2, pages 268, 274‎[4], archived from the original on 24 February 2025:
      But in fact the antinomy of exceptionalism and assimilationism has been there all along, and otherwise puzzling decisions from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries become readily understandable when seen as moments when assimilationism was ascendant. […] The Supreme Court confirmed this more than a century ago and has maintained it consistently ever since.
  3. A unit in ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing sixty to seventy or eighty) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
    Synonym: centuria
    Holonyms: maniple, cohort, legion
  4. A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
  5. A hundred things of the same kind; a hundred.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 2, subsection i:
      'tis the subject of whole books: I might cite a century of authors pro and con.
    • 2021 May 8, “'It's like my first' - history-maker Hamilton celebrates century of poles”, in France 24‎[5], archived from the original on 28 March 2022:
      Hamilton reached his century 14 years after securing his maiden pole in the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007, which he went on to win to take the first step on the road to becoming Formula One's most successful driver.
  6. (cricket) A hundred runs scored either by a single player in one innings, or by two players in a partnership.
    He has scored 44 limited-overs centuries.
    They put on a century stand to help their team recover from 57–4 to 198–4.
  7. (snooker) A score of one hundred points.
    That was his tenth professional century.
  8. (sports) A race a hundred units (as meters, kilometres, miles) in length.
  9. (US, informal) A banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Anagrams

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