cent

See also: Cent, Cent., and cent-

English

Alternative forms

• (abbreviations): cent.

Etymology

From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• enPR: sĕnt, IPA^(key): /sɛnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: scent, sent

Noun

cent (plural cents or cent)

1. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.
   • 2015 November 22, “Pennies”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 35, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     It's true. 1.7 cents to make 1 cent. That really makes the phrase “you have to spend money to make money” ring painfully true.

2. (informal) A small sum of money.
   • 1990, Lou Sullivan, From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, →ISBN, page 10:

     Every cent aside from his own expenses for the barest kind of living went to his down-and-out buddies.

   He blew every last cent.

3. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the euro.
4. (money) A coin having face value of one cent (in either of the above senses).
5. (music) A hundredth of a semitone or half step.
6. (nuclear physics) A unit of reactivity equal to one hundredth of a dollar.
7. Abbreviation of century.
8. (obsolete, except in per cent and cent percent) Abbreviation of centum. One hundred.
   • c. 1450, Octouian Imperator (Octavian), lines 1463-4:

     And broght with hem many stout cent / Of green lordynges.

   • 1733, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle III to Allen, Lord Bathurst, 372:

     The demon makes his full descent / In one abundant shower of cent per cent.

9. Abbreviation of centigrade.
10. Abbreviation of center.

Usage notes

• Due to the differing plural formats used in European languages, it is common to use the word cent as a plural throughout the Eurozone.

Synonyms

• (of a dollar): dollarcent
• (of a euro): Eurocent
• (coin (Canada, US)): penny

Derived terms

• cent percent
• dollar-and-cent
• Fugio cent
• half cent
• red cent
• ten-cent store
• ten-cent tour
• ten-cent word
• twenty-five cent word

 

Related terms

• centennial
• centi-
• centipede
• centurion
• century

 

Descendants

• → Cantonese: 仙 (sin¹)
• → Catalan: cent
• → French: cent
• → Georgian: ცენტი (cenṭi)
• → Hebrew: סנט (sent)
• → Italian: cent
• → Korean: 센트 (senteu)
• → Min Nan: 仙 (sian)
• → Polish: cent
• → Samoan: sene
  • → English: sene
• → Serbo-Croatian:
  • Cyrillic script: це̏нт
  • Latin script: cȅnt
• → Swahili: senti
• → Swedish: cent
• Tok Pisin: sen
  • → Rotokas: sieri

Translations

subunit of currency in US and elsewhere

• Albanian: cent (sq) m
• Aleut: siintax̂
• Arabic: سِنْت m (sint), سَنْت m (sant)
• Armenian: ցենտ (hy) (cʻent)
• Azerbaijani: sent
• Belarusian: цэнт m (cent)
• Bengali: সেন্ট (śenṭo)
• Bulgarian: цент m (cent)
• Burmese: ဆင့် (my) (hcang.)
• Catalan: centau (ca) m (for American continent coins), cèntim (ca) m (for the rest)
• Central Melanau: sin
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 仙 (yue) (sin¹), 分 (fan¹), 厘 (lei⁴)

  Hakka: 分 (fûn)

  Hokkien: 分 (zh-min-nan) (hun), 針／针 (chiam)

  Mandarin: 分 (zh) (fēn)

• Czech: cent (cs)
• Danish: cent (da) c
• Dutch: cent (nl) m
• Esperanto: cendo
• Estonian: sent (et)
• Faroese: sent n
• Fijian: sede (fj)
• Finnish: sentti (fi)
• French: cent (fr) m, centime (fr) m
• Galician: céntimo (gl) m
• Georgian: ცენტი (cenṭi)
• German: Cent (de) m
• Greek: σεντ (el) n (sent)
• Hebrew: סֶנְט (he) m (sent)
• Hindi: सेंट (hi) (seṇṭ)
• Hungarian: penny (hu), cent (hu)
• Indonesian: sen (id)
• Irish: ceint m
• Italian: centesimo (it) m
• Japanese: セント (ja) (sento), 仙 (ja) (セント, sento)
• Kazakh: цент (sent)
• Khmer: សេន (km) (seen)
• Korean: 센트 (senteu), 전 (ko) (jeon)
• Kyrgyz: цент (tsent)
• Lao: ເຊັນ (sen)
• Latvian: cents m
• Lithuanian: centas (lt) m
• Louisiana Creole French: pinné, sou, éskalin
• Macedonian: цент m (cent)
• Malay: sen (ms)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: цент (cent)

  Mongolian: ᠼᠧᠨᠲ᠋ (cēnt)

• Navajo: łichííʼí, tsindáo
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: cent (no) m

• Persian: سنت (fa) (sent)
• Plautdietsch: Zent n
• Polish: cent (pl) m
• Portuguese: cêntimo (pt) m
• Romanian: cent (ro) m
• Russian: цент (ru) m (cent)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: це̏нт m

  Roman: cȅnt (sh) m

• Slovak: cent (sk) m
• Slovene: cent m
• Spanish: centavo (es) m, céntimo (es) m, centésimo (es) m
• Swahili: senti (sw)
• Swedish: cent (sv) c
• Tagalog: pera (tl)
• Tajik: сент (sent)
• Thai: เซ็นต์ (sen)
• Turkish: sent (tr)
• Turkmen: sent
• Ukrainian: цент (uk) m (cent)
• Urdu: سینٹ (senṭ)
• Uyghur: سىنىت (sinit)
• Uzbek: sent (uz)
• Vietnamese: phần trăm (vi)
• West Coast Bajau: sin
• Yiddish: סענט m (sent)

one-hundredth of a euro

• Bulgarian: цент m (cent)
• Catalan: cèntim (ca) m
• Central Melanau: sin
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 歐仙／欧仙 (au¹ sin¹)

  Mandarin: 歐分／欧分 (zh) (ōufēn)

• Faroese: sent n
• Finnish: sentti (fi)
• French: centime (fr) m
• German: Cent (de) m
• Greek: λεπτό (el) n (leptó)
• Hungarian: cent (hu), eurócent
• Icelandic: sent (is) n
• Indonesian: sen (id)
• Irish: cent
• Japanese: セント (ja) (sento), セントユーロ (sentoyūro)
• Korean: 센트 (senteu), 유로센트 (yurosenteu)
• Macedonian: цент m (cent)
• Malay: sen (ms)
• Polish: eurocent (pl) m, cent (pl) m
• Portuguese: centavo (pt) m, cêntimo (pt) m
• Russian: цент (ru) m (cent)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: це̏нт m

  Roman: cȅnt (sh) m

• Swahili: senti (sw)
• Swedish: cent (sv) c
• West Coast Bajau: sin

coin

• Finnish: sentti (fi)
• French: (pièce d’un) cent m (of dollar), (pièce d’un) centime m (of euro), cenne noire (fr) f (Canada)
• German: Cent (de) m
• Greek: ένα λεπτό n (éna leptó)
• Hindi: सेंट (hi) m (seṇṭ)
• Hungarian: egycentes (hu)
• Irish: cent, ceint m
• Italian: soldino m
• Russian: цент (ru) m (cent)
• Swahili: senti (sw)
• Swedish: cent (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Maori: ^{(please verify)} hēneti

See also

• dollar
• euro
• per cent
• two cents

 

References

• “cent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “cent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• NCTE, tecn-

Catalan

Catalan numbers ^(edit)

		1,000
←  90	←  99	100	144  →	200  →
		10
Cardinal: cent     Ordinal (Central): centè     Ordinal (Valencian): centé     Ordinal: centèsim     Multiplier: cèntuple
Catalan Wikipedia article on 100

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin centum, from Proto-Italic *kentom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Pronunciation

• (standard)
  • (before the words "anys", "homes", "hores") IPA^(key): /ˈsent/
  • (any other position) IPA^(key): /ˈsen/
• (Valencian) and (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ˈsent/
• Homophone: sent
• Rhymes: -ent

Numeral

cent m or f

1. (cardinal number) hundred

Usage notes

• Catalan cardinal numbers may be used as masculine or feminine adjectives, except un/una (“1”), dos/dues (“2”), cents/centes (“100s”) and its compounds. When used as nouns, Catalan cardinal numbers are treated as masculine singular nouns in most contexts, but in expressions involving time such as la una i trenta (1:30) or les dues (two o'clock), they are feminine because the feminine noun hora has been elided.

Derived terms

• cent per cent
• per cent

Noun

cent m (plural cents)

1. hundred

See also

• dos-cents m (“two hundred”), dues-centes f (“two hundred”)
  • Old Catalan: doents (“two hundred”)
• tres-cents (“three hundred”)
• quatre-cents (“four hundred”)
• cinc-cents (“five hundred”)
• sis-cents (“six hundred”)
• set-cents (“seven hundred”)
• vuit-cents (“eight hundred”)
• nou-cents (“nine hundred”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cent. These senses of the word cent in Catalan derive from the inversion of meaning that took place in English where it was used to indicate one hundredth.

Noun

cent m (plural cents)

1. (music) cent (a hundredth of a half step)
2. (money) cent (a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the euro)

Related terms

• cèntim (“a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the base unit”)

Further reading

• “cent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “cent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “cent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Either a borrowing from English cent or a shortened borrowed from French centime.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛnt/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

cent f (plural centen, diminutive centje n)

1. (money) cent, a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of the Dutch guilder
2. (money) cent, a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the euro

Derived terms

• centiem
• dollarcent
• eurocent
• fluitje van een cent
• rooie cent

 

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sent
• Berbice Creole Dutch: sent
• → Caribbean Javanese: sèn
• → Indonesian: sen
• → Papiamentu: sèn, cens
• → Sranan Tongo: sensi
  • → Caribbean Hindustani: señs
  • → Saramaccan: seén

Esperanto

Esperanto numbers ^(edit)

		1,000
←  90	←  99	100	200  →	1,000  →
		10
Cardinal: cent     Ordinal: centa     Adverbial: cente     Multiplier: centobla, centopa     Fractional: centona, centono

Etymology

From Latin centum. Doublet of cendo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡sent]
• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cent

Number

cent

1. hundred
   • 1907, L. L. Zamenhof (tr.), La revizoro, Paris: Esperantista Centra Librejo, translation of Ревизор by Nikolaj Vasiljeviĉ Gogol, Acto kvara:

     Ĉu vi, Pjotr Ivanoviĉ, ne havas cent rublojn?

     Do you, Pjotr Ivanovich, not have one hundred rubles?

Derived terms

• ducent (“two hundred”)
• elcento, pocento, procento (“percent”)
• jarcento (“century”)
• kvarcent (“four hundred”)
• kvincent (“five hundred”)
• naŭcent (“nine hundred”)
• okcent (“eight hundred”)
• sepcent (“seven hundred”)
• sescent (“six hundred”)
• tricent (“three hundred”)

 

French

Etymology 1

French numbers ^(edit)

		1,000
[a], [b] ←  90	[a], [b] ←  99	100	200  → [a], [b]	1,000  →
		10
Cardinal: cent     Ordinal: centième     Ordinal abbreviation: 100e, (now nonstandard) 100ème     Multiplier: centuple
French Wikipedia article on 100

Inherited from Middle French cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Italic *kentom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃/, (liaison) /sɑ̃t‿/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: sang, sangs, sans, sens, sent
• Rhymes: -ɑ̃

Numeral

cent m (plural cents or (obsolete) cens)

1. hundred
   • 1775, N. J. Saladin, Leçons de mathématiques, publiées par ordres de MM. les magistrats de la Ville de Lille : A l’usage des Élèves de leur École publique des Sciences & des Arts, Lille: […] J. B. Henry, […], page 70:

     857324, 162486, 346896, 437916, 423147, 248106, 235421, 261734, 368149. Octillion, Septillion, Sextillion, Quintillion, Quadrillion, Trillion, Billion, Million, Unité. On imagina de le partager par ſixains, (c’eſt-à-dire par tranches de ſix chiffres chacune) allant de droite à gauche, & chaque ſixain reçut le nom d’unité, de million, de billion, de trillion, &c. ſelon ſon rang. Le dernier chiffre à gauche de chaque ſixain exprime donc des cens mille, le cinquième des dix mille, le quatrième des milles, le troiſième des cens, le ſecond des dixaines, & le premier des unités; ainſi, le dernier ſixain étant des octillions, on a 857324 octillions, c’eſt-à-dire, huit cens cinquante-ſept mille trois cens vingt-quatre octillions: on pourſuivra aiſément d’énoncer le reſte de ce grand nombre, en diſant: cent ſoixante-deux mille quatre cens quatre-vingt-ſix ſeptillions, trois cens quarante-ſix mille huit-cens quatre-vingt-ſeize ſextillions, quatre cens trente-ſept mille neuf cens ſeize quintillions, quatre cens vingt-trois mille cent quarante-ſept quadrillions, deux cens quarante-huit mille cent ſix trillions, deux cens trente-cinq mille quatre cens vingt-un billions, deux cens ſoixante-un mille ſept cens trente-quatre millions, trois cens ſoixante-huit mille cent quarante-nuef unités.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• cent pour cent
• cent sept ans
• centaine
• centenaire
• centésimal
• centième
• centigrade
• centime
• centuple
• centupler
• cinq cents
• deux cents
• en un mot comme en cent
• faire les cent pas
• guerre de Cent Ans
• huit cents
• neuf cents
• pourcent
• quatre cents
• sept cents
• six cents
• trois cents
• un point fait à temps en épargne cent

 

Related terms

• centi-

Descendants

• → Garifuna: san
• Haitian Creole: san
• Louisiana Creole: sen

See also

• deux cents (“two hundred”)
• trois cents (“three hundred”)
• quatre cents (“four hundred”)
• cinq cents (“five hundred”)
• six cents (“six hundred”)
• sept cents (“seven hundred”)
• huit cents (“eight hundred”)
• neuf cents (“nine hundred”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cent, itself from Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛnt/, /sɛn/
• Homophone: cents

Noun

cent m (plural cents)

1. (money) cent (one-hundredth of a dollar or of a euro)

   Synonym: centime

Synonyms

• (dollar): cenne (colloquial, Canada), sou (slang, North America)

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: san
• → Arabic: سنت (sant)
• → Garifuna: san

See also

• franc
• dollar

Further reading

• “cent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin centum, from Proto-Italic *kentom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Numeral

cent

1. hundred

Hungarian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɛnt]
• Hyphenation: cent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

cent (plural centek)

1. (money) cent (a subunit of currency)
2. (informal) centilitre

   Synonym: centiliter

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	cent	centek
accusative	centet	centeket
dative	centnek	centeknek
instrumental	centtel	centekkel
causal-final	centért	centekért
translative	centté	centekké
terminative	centig	centekig
essive-formal	centként	centekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	centben	centekben
superessive	centen	centeken
adessive	centnél	centeknél
illative	centbe	centekbe
sublative	centre	centekre
allative	centhez	centekhez
elative	centből	centekből
delative	centről	centekről
ablative	centtől	centektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	centé	centeké
non-attributive possessive - plural	centéi	centekéi

Possessive forms of cent
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	centem	centjeim
2nd person sing.	cented	centjeid
3rd person sing.	centje	centjei
1st person plural	centünk	centjeink
2nd person plural	centetek	centjeitek
3rd person plural	centjük	centjeik

Derived terms

• centes
• centnyi

 

Compound words

• dollárcent
• eurócent

 

Further reading

• cent in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

Ido

Ido numbers ^(edit)

←  90	←  99	100	1,000  →
		10
Cardinal: cent     Ordinal: centesma     Adverbial: centfoye     Multiplier: centopla     Fractional: centima

Etymology 1

Back-formation from cento.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sɛnt/

Numeral

cent

1. hundred (100)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cent, French cent, German Cent, Italian cent, Russian цент (cent), Spanish centavo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sent/, /t͡sent/

Noun

cent (plural cents or cent-i)

1. (numismatics) cent

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cent.

Noun

cent m (invariable)

1. cent (US coin)
2. euro cent (European coin)

Lombard

Etymology

From cento.

Numeral

cent

1. hundred

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin centum, from Proto-Italic *kentom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Numeral

cent

1. hundred

Derived terms

• centen

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 242.

Old French

Alternative forms

• çant
• ceint
• chent

Etymology

From Latin centum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsent/, (late) /sãnt/

Numeral

cardinal number

100	Previous:	nonante et nuef
	Next:	cent et un

cent oblique singular, m (oblique plural cenz or centz, nominative singular cenz or centz, nominative plural cent)

1. one hundred

Descendants

• Middle French: cent
  • French: cent (see there for further descendants)
• Walloon: cint
• → Dutch: cent (see there for further descendants)
• → English: cent (see there for further descendants)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centum or English cent. Doublet of sto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Syllabification: cent

Noun

cent m animal

1. cent

Declension

Declension of cent

	singular	plural
nominative	cent	centy
genitive	centa	centów
dative	centowi	centom
accusative	centa	centy
instrumental	centem	centami
locative	cencie	centach
vocative	cencie	centy

Further reading

• cent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• cent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English cent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sênt/

Noun

cȅnt m (Cyrillic spelling це̏нт)

1. cent (hundredth of a dollar, euro, etc.)
2. (music) cent (hundredth of a semitone)

Declension

Declension of cent

	singular	plural
nominative	cȅnt	cȅnti
genitive	centa	cȇntā
dative	centu	centima
accusative	cȅnt	cente
vocative	centu / cente	centi
locative	centu	centima
instrumental	centom	centima

Spanish

Noun

cent m (plural cents)

1. cent (subunit of euro)

   Synonym: céntimo

Further reading

• “cent”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cent.

Noun

cent c

1. cent; a subunit of currency

Declension

Declension of cent
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	cent	centen	cent	centen
Genitive	cents	centens	cents	centens

References

• Hur ska vi hantera euro?, Forskningscentralen för de inhemska språken, February 8, 2007
• Euro, Språkrådet, Veckans språkråd 2002