centigrade

[ sen-ti-greyd ]

/ ˈsɛn tɪˌgreɪd /

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adjective

divided into 100 degrees, as a scale.

(initial capital letter) Celsius (def. 2). Abbreviation: cent. Symbol: C

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

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Origin of centigrade

FromFrench, dating back to 1805–15; see origin at centi-, -grade

Words nearby centigrade

centesimo, centesis, centi-, centiare, centibar, centigrade, centigram, centile, centiliter, centilitre, centillion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use centigrade in a sentence

For every 50 degrees Centigrade, you change the chemical reaction rate by a factor of two.
Japan Nuclear Crisis: What Is a Full Meltdown?|Josh Dzieza|March 15, 2011|DAILY BEAST
A Calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water from zero to one degree Centigrade.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
A centigrade thermometer, sunk two and a half inches in the earth, at noon, marked 56.
The Desert World|Arthur Mangin
I don't think I'd care to walk into a hydrogen atmosphere at three hundred Centigrade.
The Bramble Bush|Gordon Randall Garrett

All I did was wait until the temperature got above three fifty-seven Centigrade—above the boiling point of mercury.
The Bramble Bush|Gordon Randall Garrett
Slightly disappointed that there were only five degrees of frost (Centigrade) I returned to the lounge.
Once a Week|Alan Alexander Milne

British Dictionary definitions for centigrade

centigrade

/ (ˈsɛntɪˌɡreɪd) /

adjective

a former name for Celsius

noun

a unit of angle equal to one hundredth of a grade

usage for centigrade

Although still used in meteorology, centigrade, when indicating the Celsius scale of temperature, is now usually avoided because of its possible confusion with the hundredth part of a grade

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for centigrade

centigrade

[ sĕn′tĭ-grād′ ]

See Celsius.

Usage

Because of confusion over the prefix centi-, which originally meant 100 but developed the meaning 1100, scientists agreed to stop using the term centigrade in 1948. The term Celsius is now standard.

Cultural definitions for centigrade

centigrade

The Celsius temperature scale.