centennial

American  

[sen-ten-ee-uhl] / sɛnˈtɛn i əl /

adjective

1. pertaining to, or marking the completion of, a period of 100 years.

2. pertaining to a 100th anniversary.

3. lasting 100 years.

4. 100 years old.

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noun

• centennials
  plural

1. a 100th anniversary or its celebration; centenary.

centennial British  

/ sɛnˈtɛnɪəl /

adjective

1. relating to, lasting for, or completing a period of 100 years

2. occurring every 100 years

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noun

1. another name for centenary

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• precentennial
  adjective
• centennially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• centennials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of centennial

1790–1800; < Latin cent- 100 ( see cent) + English -ennial pertaining to a period of years (extracted from biennial )

Explanation

If your parents are celebrating their centennial wedding anniversary, make sure you throw them a really big party. Centennial is a word to describe something that has lasted for 100 years — so your parents have been married an unusually long time! When you notice the cent- bit in the word centennial you probably think of words like century (100 years) and cent (100 pennies that make up a dollar), and that tips you off that centennial has something to do with the number 100. What these words all share in common is an origin in the Latin word centum, meaning 100. In the case of the adjective centennial, the addition of -ennial gives the word its sense of describing a one hundred year anniversary.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

centennial centennials

At a launch event on Tuesday, Sir David said: "When I narrated the first Blue Planet series, it didn't occur to me that I would be narrating a third series in my centennial year."

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

If anything, adversity seems only to have fortified these musicians, which may in part account for Mr. Noseda’s decision in March 2025 to renew his contract with the NSO through 2030-31, its centennial season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Adding to the celebratory theme, the centennial comes on Hispanic Heritage Month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The first World’s Fair held in America would be happening at the same time in Philadelphia, so the city was also chosen as the site of the centennial events.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

Considering that the next centennial celebration would be in the year 2035, we didn’t think Grandma would have a problem with it.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

This season, he has claimed his modernist bona fides — leading Berg and Schoenberg works that aren’t far from their centennials.

From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2020

Turkcan said millennials were born between 1979 and 1996, and centennials - the next major generation for baseball - began in 1997 and ended between four and eight years ago.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019

Turkcan said millennials were born between 1979 and 1996, and centennials — the next major generation for baseball — began in 1997 and ended between four and eight years ago.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2019

Their centennials or bicentennials are being commemorated this year.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2011

On the southern side of the street were a mix of larger apartment buildings, and at either end of the block were churches that had recently celebrated their centennials.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

Related Words

• annual
• intermittent
• monthly
• occasional
• recurrent
• recurring
• regular
• repeated
• routine
• seasonal
• sporadic
• weekly
• yearly