centavo

[sen-tah-voh, sen-tah-vaw]

noun

plural

centavos 

1. one 100th of the monetary units of various nations, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Philippines.

centavo

/ sɛnˈtɑːvəʊ /

noun

1. a monetary unit of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units

2. a former monetary unit of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Portugal, worth one hundredth of their former standard units

Word History and Origins

Origin of centavo¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Spanish: “one 100th part,” equivalent to cent- “100” ( cent ) + -avo, from Latin -āvum as in octāvum “eighth”; octavo

Word History and Origins

Origin of centavo¹

Spanish: one hundredth part

Example Sentences

The coupon cost 30 centavos in Spain but could be exchanged for a 5-10 cent US postal stamp.

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A pound of rice used to cost 25 centavos, for example.

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Our Goya can piggy bank was down to its last centavos.

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When he first started working in the fields, in the nineteen-sixties, he earned fifty centavos for a day’s labor.

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“We want to make sure that every centavo that can be recovered will go to the benefit of the state and the people.”

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