centavo

[ sen-tah-voh; Spanish sen-tah-vaw ]

noun

, plural cen·ta·vos [sen-, tah, -vohz, sen-, tah, -vaws].

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

He reveals that his monthly hazard pay amounts to just 300 Philippine pesos—a little over $6—and even then he has yet to receive a single centavo of it.

From Time

Nation has interesting monetary system based on peso with peso being worth 100 centavos and centavo being worth nothing.

From The Daily Beast

At the bar, a laughing longshoreman pushed a five-centavo coin into the nickeled red juke box, pressed the "Bsame" button.

From Project Gutenberg

Out of pity he gave her a centavo, and in return she gave him an empty purse from which he could ask any sum of money he wanted.

From Project Gutenberg

The humbler children would gather about us, pleading, "Americano, gimme a centavo!"

From Project Gutenberg

I show them peons—­ten-centavo men when we took them, and five-peso men when I showed them.

From Project Gutenberg

Buyo and cigars.The luxuries of the Filipinos are buyo8 and cigars—a cigar costing half a centavo, and a buyo much less.

From Project Gutenberg