cento
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.
Origin of cento
1Other words from cento
- cen·ton·i·cal [sen-ton-i-kuhl], /sɛnˈtɒn ɪ kəl/, adjective
- cen·to·nism [sen-tn-iz-uhm], /ˈsɛn tnˌɪz əm/, cen·to·ni·za·tion [sen-tn-uh-zey-shuhn], /ˌsɛn tn əˈzeɪ ʃən/, noun
Other definitions for CENTO (2 of 2)
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.
Origin of CENTO
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cento in a sentence
The old themes and verses aimed at producing decorous centos culled from the works of classical rhetoricians and poets.
Cambridge Essays on Education | VariousSome are made up of stanzas from several different predecessors, others are almost centos of stock phrases.
Robert Burns | William Allan NeilsonBut he has fallen into the error of all selectors of centos,—an abuse of good things.
The Works of Honor de Balzac | Honor de BalzacFine writing is with him all verbiage and monotony—a translation into classical centos or hexameter lines.
Hazlitt on English Literature | Jacob ZeitlinHe is a writer of centos, and yet in originality scarcely inferior to Homer.
Hazlitt on English Literature | Jacob Zeitlin
British Dictionary definitions for cento (1 of 2)
/ (ˈsɛntəʊ) /
a piece of writing, esp a poem, composed of quotations from other authors
Origin of cento
1British Dictionary definitions for CENTO (2 of 2)
/ (ˈsɛntəʊ) /
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
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
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