per cent

British  

/ pə ˈsɛnt /

adverb

1. Also: per centum.   %.  in or for every hundred

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noun

1. a percentage or proportion

2. (often plural) securities yielding a rate of interest as specified

   he bought three percents

Etymology

Origin of per cent

C16: from Medieval Latin per centum out of every hundred

Example Sentences

The number of water voles nationally are in free fall, with more than 90 per cent of them lost since the 1970s, the Mammal Society said.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

We've recruited 2,000 more GPs and satisfaction has risen from 60 per cent to 74.5 per cent since we came to office.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

"A key finding from this research is that about 10 per cent of the energy released as matter falls in towards the black hole is carried away by the jets," Dr. Prabu said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2026

PetTV is available to paid subscribers of Tencent Video, which said its market research found that 66 per cent of dog owners leave the television on for their pets when they are out.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Buffalo, with 185,000 elms, has an excellent record of containing the disease by sanitation, with recent annual losses amounting to only %o of 1 per cent.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson