percent

American  

[per-sent] / pərˈsɛnt /

Or per cent

noun

1. Also called per centum.  one one-hundredth part; 1/100.

2. percentage.

3. British. stocks, bonds, etc., that bear an indicated rate of interest.

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adjective

1. figured or expressed on the basis of a rate or proportion per hundred (used in combination with a number in expressing rates of interest, proportions, etc.): %

   to get three percent interest.

percent Scientific  

/ pər-sĕnt′ /

1. One part in a hundred. For example, 62 percent (also written 62%) means 62 parts out of 100.

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percent Cultural  

1. A fraction expressed as a number of hundredths. Twelve percent of a quantity, for example, is twelve one-hundredths of it. Twelve percent may also be written 12%.

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Commonly Confused

In the senses “rate or proportion per hundred” and “proportion in general” percent and percentage are frequently interchangeable. With a preceding number, only percent occurs ( a 16 percent decline ); with no preceding number, either occurs, but percentage is much more common: a certain percentage (or percent ) of the land.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• percental
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of percent

First recorded in 1560–70; short for Medieval Latin per centum “by the hundred”; see per, cent

Explanation

A percent is part of something, split into a hundred pieces. For example, fifty percent of forty is twenty. You'll hear a lot about percent and percentages in math. A percent can go from 0 percent to 100 percent. A percent is calculated by comparing a part of something compared to the whole. A baseball player's batting average is a percent. Athletes are known for talking about numbers that are impossible, like "I gave 110 percent!" You can do that in slang, but don't try it in math class.

Example Sentences

They had fallen as much as five percent at one point Tuesday on optimism a deal would be struck.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

Participants in the study obtained about 41 percent of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, nearly matching the Australian national average of 42 percent.

From Science Daily • Jun. 9, 2026

Bondi was willing to give him 92 percent of what he wanted.

From Slate • Jun. 9, 2026

Nine percent of the 69,000 capacity at Seattle Stadium is 6,210.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

When he’d started out, he’d decided not to charge his investors the usual 2 percent or so management fee for his services.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• bonus
• chunk
• fee
• interest
• proportion
• rate
• ratio
• royalty