centurion
Americannoun
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centurions
plural
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(in the ancient Roman army) the commander of a century.
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Military. Centurion, any one of various British battle tanks in service from 1945 to 1967.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of centurion
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English, from Latin centuriōn- (stem of centuriō ), equivalent to centur(ia) century + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A centurion is a kind of soldier in the Roman army responsible for the command of a century, or one hundred, men. Centurion lives on in common language as the typical Roman soldier––countless generations of fifth graders have been asked to sketch their costumes. Their resilience in popular imagination may be ascribed to the role the centurion soldiers played in the Christian gospel story of the life of Jesus Christ.
Vocabulary lists containing centurion
Ancient Rome - Introductory
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The Son of Neptune
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Ancient Rome - Middle School and High School
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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:
The high and wide wingers, given multiple one-against-one situations per game, and the focus on cut-backs were seen in City's centurion season.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Not long after, he justified the roughly $130,000 investment the Rajasthan Royals made in a 13-year-old - becoming the youngest centurion in competitive senior cricket with a blistering 35-ball hundred against the Gujarat Titans.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
Opening batsman Pathum Nissanka, a centurion against Australia, fell for nine exposing Sri Lank's shaky middle order and they folded in 16.4 overs.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
It was England's highest total in ODIs for three years and their best effort at home since 2018, while Bethell's ton, in his 33rd international innings, made him England's second-youngest ODI centurion after David Gower.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2025
Jason stood about fifty yards away, sword-fighting with a stocky centurion whose lips were stained cherry red, like blood.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Think of the centurions who cast lots for Christ’s robes on the day of the Crucifixion in 33 A.D.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
“And so the law is the guardrails. So there has to be lawyers who are prepared to protect those guardrails and to stand as centurions, as I refer to us.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
He’s been prattling on about Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” and sharing Facebook nonsense about centurions ever since.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
The campaign marked the end of the road for a trio of Test centurions as Peter O'Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray all bowed out of the international arena.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2025
Two centurions leaned casually on their javelins, chatting with a tall skinny blond guy in a purple toga.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
