centennial

American  

[sen-ten-ee-uhl] / sɛnˈtɛn i əl /

adjective

1. pertaining to, or marking the completion of, a period of 100 years.

2. pertaining to a 100th anniversary.

3. lasting 100 years.

4. 100 years old.

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noun

• centennials
  plural

1. a 100th anniversary or its celebration; centenary.

centennial British  

/ sɛnˈtɛnɪəl /

adjective

1. relating to, lasting for, or completing a period of 100 years

2. occurring every 100 years

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noun

1. another name for centenary

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• precentennial
  adjective
• centennially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• centennials
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of centennial

1790–1800; < Latin cent- 100 ( see cent) + English -ennial pertaining to a period of years (extracted from biennial )

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Explanation

If your parents are celebrating their centennial wedding anniversary, make sure you throw them a really big party. Centennial is a word to describe something that has lasted for 100 years — so your parents have been married an unusually long time! When you notice the cent- bit in the word centennial you probably think of words like century (100 years) and cent (100 pennies that make up a dollar), and that tips you off that centennial has something to do with the number 100. What these words all share in common is an origin in the Latin word centum, meaning 100. In the case of the adjective centennial, the addition of -ennial gives the word its sense of describing a one hundred year anniversary.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

centennial centennials

But enough years passed that the statue could be proposed to commemorate the American centennial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

At a launch event on Tuesday, Sir David said: "When I narrated the first Blue Planet series, it didn't occur to me that I would be narrating a third series in my centennial year."

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass celebrated the paper’s centennial in a written statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

With the centennial, monthly visitor numbers are up 20% this year, a boon for the town’s businesses and coffers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Several weeks after the centennial gathering in Philadelphia, Susan B. Anthony visited Elizabeth Cady Stanton at her new home in Tenafly, New Jersey.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Turkcan said millennials were born between 1979 and 1996, and centennials - the next major generation for baseball - began in 1997 and ended between four and eight years ago.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019

Turkcan said millennials were born between 1979 and 1996, and centennials — the next major generation for baseball — began in 1997 and ended between four and eight years ago.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2019

A closing-night gala salutes the centennials of Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein.

From New York Times ● May 17, 2018

Special attention was given to William Schuman and Samuel Barber, whose centennials are being celebrated this year.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2010

On the southern side of the street were a mix of larger apartment buildings, and at either end of the block were churches that had recently celebrated their centennials.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

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Related Words

• annual
• intermittent
• monthly
• occasional
• recurrent
• recurring
• regular
• repeated
• routine
• seasonal
• sporadic
• weekly
• yearly

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