centimeter
Americannoun
-
centimeters
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of centimeter
From the French word centimètre, dating back to 1795–1805. See centi-, meter 1
Explanation
In the metric system, a centimeter is a unit of measurement that's about one-third the size of an inch. There are approximately 30 centimeters in a foot. The word centimeter comes from the French centimètre, a combination of the Latin word for "hundred," centum, and the French mètre. A centimeter is one hundredth of a meter—in other words, there are one hundred centimeters in one meter. In just about every part of the world besides the U.S., this word is spelled centimetre.
Vocabulary lists containing centimeter
Measurement and Data
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: cent
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: meter, metr
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers calculated a very low carrier density of approximately 1016 per cubic centimeter.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026
They grow about a centimeter or two a year and by sampling cores at the millimeter scale, the team was able to develop windows of monthly temperature records scattered across the past millennium.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The comparison becomes even more striking when measured against candy floss, which has a typical density of about 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 27, 2026
Veradermics also assessed hair count per square centimeter, finding that both dosing regimens increased hair count by at least 30 hairs per square centimeter, compared with 7.3 hairs per square centimeter for the placebo group.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026
And they are in every single cubic centimeter you see around you.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
In 2009, an Iridium Communications satellite hit a nonfunctional Russian communications satellite, generating around 1,800 pieces of debris at least 10 centimeters in size.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
"After all, our chips are only 2 centimeters across. But, in reality, there are a lot of applications where this would be very powerful," he says.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
Since the Moon is receding from Earth at roughly 3.8 centimeters a year, millions of years from now it will appear too small to produce the phenomenon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The city once experienced subsidence exceeding 10 centimeters per year, with the worst affected locations sinking by around 24 centimeters annually.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
The treadmill was about two meters square and six centimeters thick.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
