percentage

American  

[per-sen-tij] / pərˈsɛn tɪdʒ /

noun

1. a rate or proportion per hundred.

2. an allowance, commission, or rate of interest calculated by percent.

3. a proportion in general.

   Only a small percentage of the class will graduate with honors.

4. gain; benefit; profit; advantage.

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percentage British  

/ pəˈsɛntɪdʒ /

noun

1. proportion or rate per hundred parts

2. commerce the interest, tax, commission, or allowance on a hundred items

3. any proportion in relation to the whole

4. informal profit or advantage

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Usage

What is a percentage? Percentage is a rate or proportion per hundred, as in This graph shows the percentage of homes that have a microwave.Percentage is also used more generally to mean any proportion, as in Studies have shown that a large percentage of people love cute animals.A percent is one one-hundredth (1/100) of something. Percentage refers to the rate or proportion of that one hundred. Usually, you will see the word percentage used in math equations or statistics or when someone is measuring the increase and decrease in rates.Informally, percentage can mean a gain or advantage, as in There is no percentage to be gained from lying to the sheriff.Generally, percentage and percent can be used interchangeably when referring to vague proportions. However, the word percentage never follows an exact number. In this case, only percent can be used in The number of pet owners increased by 10 percent.A percentile is any of the possible 100 equal parts a range of values can be divided into. A given percentile means that the percentage of all possible outcomes is lower or lesser than the given percentile. For example, if you score in the 92nd percentile of an exam, you scored higher than 92 percent of all other people who took the exam.Example: After careful measuring, the percentage of people who hated pineapple on pizza was found to be significantly higher than first thought.

Commonly Confused

See percent.

Other Word Forms

• percentaged adjective

Etymology

Origin of percentage

First recorded in 1780–90; percent + -age

Example Sentences

And if you compare this spending to some of the biggest capital efforts in U.S. history by percentage of gross domestic product, you can see exactly how staggering the figures are.

From The Wall Street Journal

Which is why the more prestigious the college, the higher the percentage of kids with disabilities.

From The Wall Street Journal

The country’s participation rate, the proportion of the population 15 and older who were employed or looking for work, decreased 0.4 percentage point to 65.0% in January.

From The Wall Street Journal

The company also anticipates full-year revenue to decline by a mid-single digit percentage as multiple sclerosis product revenue continues to decline.

From The Wall Street Journal

Markets go up and down; it is easier to ride out a downturn when you realize the giveback is but a small percentage of the recent gains.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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