cento
noun
a piece of writing, especially a poem, composed wholly of quotations from the works of other authors.
cento
1 American
[sen-toh]
/ ˈsɛn toʊ /
noun
-
centos
plural
-
a piece of writing, especially a poem, composed wholly of quotations from the works of other authors.
-
anything composed of incongruous parts; conglomeration.
-
Obsolete. a patchwork.
CENTO
2
American
[sen-toh]
/ ˈsɛn toʊ /
noun
CENTO
1
British
/ ˈsɛntəʊ /
acronym
cento
2
British
/ ˈsɛntəʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cento1
First recorded in 1595–1605, cento is from the Latin word centō patchwork quilt or curtain
Origin of CENTO2
Cen(tral) T(reaty) O(rganization)
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:
Author’s Note: A cento, from the Latin for “patchwork,” is a collage poem composed of lines from other sources.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 4, 2023
If not, it should, for Robert Irwin’s ingenious historical fantasy “Wonders Will Never Cease” is a contemporary novelist’s version of the poetic form known as a cento.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2017
While reading a cento, one savored its imaginative repurposing of bits from Horace, Virgil and any number of lesser ancients.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2017
No matter that it is necessary even here to make a cento, that the untutored singer cannot keep up the song by natural force and has not skill enough to dissemble the lapses.
From Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860 by George Saintsbury
I must observe here, that the "Lament of Tasso" is, in fact, a cento taken from Tasso's minor poems.
From The Romance of Biography (Vol 1 of 2) or Memoirs of Women Loved and Celebrated by Poets, from the Days of the Troubadours to the Present Age. 3rd ed. 2 Vols. by Mrs. (Anna) Jameson
For that matter, Washington also has long been disillusioned with CENTO.
From Time Magazine Archive
Close ties were knit with Turkey and Iran, two Moslem neighbors and fellow members of CENTO.
From Time Magazine Archive
As for foreign policy, he said: "Iran will no longer be the gendarme of the Persian Gulf, and it is my intention to take Iran out of the military wing of CENTO."
From Time Magazine Archive
So, in the geopolitics of the '70s, China ranks as a sort of honorary member of CENTO.
From Time Magazine Archive
CENTO, a town of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Ferrara, 18 m.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various
And so, I wanted to do what I could to discourage people from doing that and that's where the centos come in.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2019
And prudence can justly be desired in those who have collected these centos of the "Sentences" and decrees.
From Apology of the Augsburg Confession by Philipp Melanchthon
In 1712, he published his "Rural Sports," and dedicated it to Pope, who was then rising toward the ascendant, having just published his brilliant tissue of centos, the "Essay on Criticism."
His numerous poetical works are of the most miscellaneous kind, ranging from Christian hymns and elegies on deceased relations to translations from the Greek Anthology and centos from Virgil.
From Latin Literature by J. W. (John William) Mackail
Familiar phraseology was ready at hand for the composition of new canticles which were often mere centos from the Psalms or other portions of the Hebrew scriptures.
From Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries by Ruth Ellis Messenger
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.
