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
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
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
If I were to write down all she and four other married women have confided to me, these three days past, it would make a cento, on one subject, in five parts.
From Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Volume II by Margaret Fuller
The ninth, upon fidelity in love, contains these noble lines: La fede mai non debbe esser corrotta, O data a un sol o data ancor a cento, Data in palese o data in una grotta.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by John Addington Symonds
These factors have all served to erode any feeling of collective security in CENTO.
From Time Magazine Archive
With all due pomp, the U.S. last week was playing host to the semiannual Ministerial Council of CENTO, the Baghdad-less Baghdad Pact.
From Time Magazine Archive
Close ties were knit with Turkey and Iran, two Moslem neighbors and fellow members of CENTO.
From Time Magazine Archive
That line ran along the northern frontiers of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, which were all members 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
The Empress Eudoxia wrote the life of Jesus Christ, in centos taken from Homer; Proba Falconia from Virgil.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 by Isaac Disraeli
He was no mere lawyer: no stringer of professional centos.
From The International Monthly Magazine - Volume V - No II by Various
Some are made up of stanzas from several different predecessors, others are almost centos of stock phrases.
From Robert Burns How To Know Him by William Allan Neilson
Parables and brief discourses, or rather, centos of religious and ethical exhortations and injunctions.
From Collected Essays, Volume V Science and Christian Tradition: Essays by Thomas Henry Huxley
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.
