cent
1 Americanabbreviation
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centigrade.
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central.
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centum.
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century.
noun
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a monetary unit of American Samoa, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brunei, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United States, the Vatican City, the Virgin Islands, and Zimbabwe. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units
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an interval of pitch between two frequencies f 2 and f 1 equal to 3986.31 log ( f 2 / f 1 ); one twelve-hundredth of the interval between two frequencies having the ratio 1:2 (an octave)
Usage
What does cent- mean? Cent- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “hundredth” or "hundred."Cent- comes from the Latin centum, meaning “hundred.” The word cent, as in a hundredth of a dollar and also known as a penny, ultimately comes from this same Latin root, as does percent. The Greek word for “hundred” is hekatón, source of the combining forms hecto-, hect-, hekto-, and hekt-, which you can learn more about in our Words That Use articles for the forms. Cent- is a variant of centi-, which loses its -i- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use centi- article.
Etymology
Origin of cent
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin centēsimus “hundredth” (by shortening), equivalent to cent(um) “100” ( see hundred) + -ēsimus ordinal suffix
Explanation
A cent is a very small unit of money. In the US, one cent is the same thing as one penny. A cent is 1/100 of a dollar — in other words, there are 100 cents in a dollar. Many other currencies have a cent as well, including the European Union, Estonia, and Hong Kong, representing 1/100 of the basic unit of money. The word cent comes from the Latin centum, "hundred." In Middle English, cent meant "one hundred," but by the 1600s it came to mean "one hundredth."
Vocabulary lists containing cent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When she did, she was maliciously disbelieved and ridiculed by the likes of Drake and 50 Cent.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026
In an effort to bring the entertainment industry to Louisiana, rapper Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, is investing $124 million into a new production campus for his company, G-Unit Film & Television.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
The cast of the new Street Fighter movie adaptation, with the exception of rapper 50 Cent, introduced its first trailer.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
He also said it was "staggering" that Netflix had given creative control to 50 Cent, who he described as "a longtime adversary with a personal vendetta".
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025
But Ma and Pa encourage him to spend time with Uncle Cent, who will help him make good connections with other well-placed people in the city.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.