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  • cent
    cent
    noun
    one 100th of the dollar, or other basic monetary unit, of various nations, including the United States. ¢, c
  • cent-
    cent-
    variant of centi- before a vowel.
  • cent.
    cent.
    abbreviation
    centigrade.
Synonyms

cent

1 American  
[sent] / sɛnt /

noun

  1. one 100th of the dollar, or other basic monetary unit, of various nations, including the United States. ¢, c

  2. penny.

    Sorry, I’ve only got two dimes, a nickel, and four cents.

  3. a monetary unit of certain European Union countries, one 100th of a euro.


cent- 2 American  
  1. variant of centi- before a vowel.

    centare.


cent. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. centigrade.

  2. central.

  3. centum.

  4. century.


cent British  
/ sɛnt /

noun

  1. 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

  2. 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)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cent Idioms  
  1. see for two cents; not worth a dime (red cent); put in one's two cents.


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."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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