cento

¹ American  

[sen-toh] / ˈsɛn toʊ /

noun

plural

centos

1. a piece of writing, especially a poem, composed wholly of quotations from the works of other authors.

2. anything composed of incongruous parts; conglomeration.

3. Obsolete. a patchwork.

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CENTO ² American  

[sen-toh] / ˈsɛn toʊ /

noun

1. a former organization (1959–79) for economic and military cooperation, established as successor to the Baghdad Pact, and comprising Great Britain, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. The U.S. had affiliate status.

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CENTO ¹ British  

/ ˈsɛntəʊ /

acronym

1. Central Treaty Organization; an organization for military and economic cooperation formed in 1959 by the UK, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey as a successor to the Baghdad Pact: disbanded 1979

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cento ² British  

/ ˈsɛntəʊ /

noun

1. a piece of writing, esp a poem, composed of quotations from other authors

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Other Word Forms

• centonical adjective
• centonism noun
• centonization noun

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

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

The innuendoes of the Ugellino and the Nicchio are here repeated in figures which anticipate the novels and capitoli of the cinque cento.

From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington

He allows that he has "collected this cento out of divers authors" and has borrowed from innumerable books, but he claims that "the composition and method is ours only, and shows a scholar."

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various