a monetary unit of Italy until the euro was adopted, one 100th of a lira.
a cupronickel coin of Uruguay, one 100th of a peso.
a copper coin of Panama, one 100th of a balboa.
First recorded in 1850–55; from Italian, Spanish, from Latin centēsimus; see centesimal
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He presents the card; they make an ugly face at him: he hasn’t a centesimo to bless himself with.
From Cuore (Heart) An Italian Schoolboy's Journal by Hapgood, Isabel Florence
How should we feel if we read in the paper some morning that the Italian people had formed into an army of peace—refusing to pay another centesimo for warfare?
From The Crown of Life by Gissing, George
He never spends a soldo, I am positive; and if he drops a centesimo under the benches, he is capable of hunting for it for a week.
From Cuore (Heart) An Italian Schoolboy's Journal by Hapgood, Isabel Florence
I wouldn't give a brass centesimo," cried Sancho, "to know what is past.
From Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12) Classic Tales and Old-Fashioned Stories by Mabie, Hamilton Wright
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.
