cent
noun
one 100th of the dollar, or other basic monetary unit, of various nations, including the United States. ¢, c
cent
1 American
[sent]
/ sɛnt /
cent-
2
American
cent.
3
American
abbreviation
-
centigrade.
-
central.
-
centum.
-
century.
cent
British
/ sɛnt /
noun
-
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
-
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)
cent
Idioms
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Earlier this month, Robin Osterley, from the Charity Retail Association, said this kind of fly tipping was "happening consistently" for 93 per cent of its members.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
"We don't have a cent of margin in our filling stations."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
She is going through every cent she has’,” says Noser.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Taalas can price a million tokens to a fraction of a cent for as long as its model is wanted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
We had to assume that the letter a was worth one cent, b two cents, c three cents—and so on, making the letter z worth twenty-six cents.
From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea
It was followed by several shells which dropped into the dunes, not far from the French battery of cent- vingt.
From The Soul of the War by Philip Gibbs
Asked if he understood the supporters' reaction at the result, Frank said: "Yes, 100 per cent. We all sense the frustration and the emotions. That is part of football."
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2025
“After 30 years now, my likeness is still being used. I don’t see a cent. They’re still exploiting my image,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2023
"They would rather risk your health than sacrifice a single cent. Disgusting."
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2023
"One hundred per cent. Not only is it just wasting so much time, but it feels like there's just less and less privacy in the world. Everything you do is constantly out there."
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2022
“Buy nothing. Don’t bring one cent. Go and make them stop the curse.”
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
She works from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is paid 36 cents for each paper sheet she fills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Cracker Barrel on Wednesday posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $12.2 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with $6.75 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The ad-supported versions of each will cost $12.49 per month, up 50 cents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Disney also raised the prices of its stand-alone, ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu plans by 50 cents, to $12.49.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
That’s where residents stood up and gave their two cents about things like goose poop cleanup solutions and more funding for the Spegg.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
