century

[sen-chuh-ree]

noun, plural cen·tu·ries.

a period of 100 years.
one of the successive periods of 100 years reckoned forward or backward from a recognized chronological epoch, especially from the assumed date of the birth of Jesus.
any group or collection of 100: a century of limericks.

(in the ancient Roman army) a company, consisting of approximately 100 men.
one of the voting divisions of the ancient Roman people, each division having one vote.
(initial capital letter) Printing. a style of type.
Slang. a hundred-dollar bill; 100 dollars.
Sports. a race of 100 yards or meters, as in track or swimming, or of 100 miles, as in bicycle racing.
Cricket. a score of at least 100 runs made by one batsman in a single inning.

Origin of century

1525–35; < Latin centuria unit made up of 100 parts, especially company of soldiers, equivalent to cent(um) 100 + -uria, perhaps extracted from decuria decury

Related formshalf-cen·tu·ry, noun, plural half·-cen·tu·ries.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-century

Contemporary Examples of half-century

After a half-century of frigid relations, the U.S. and Cuba have agreed to a thaw as the result of 18 months of secret talks.
Up To Speed: The Cuba Embargo
Nina Strochlic
December 18, 2014
But music devices sound worse than they did a half-century ago.
Five Lessons the Faltering Music Industry Could Learn From TV
Ted Gioia
August 3, 2014
I listened to music by Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Horace Silver—each of the tracks more than a half-century old.
Jazz (The Music of Coffee and Donuts) Has Respect, But It Needs Love
Ted Gioia
June 15, 2014
For more than a half-century before “Stairway to Heaven,” recording artists had been doing this, usually with impunity.
Did Led Zeppelin Steal ‘Stairway to Heaven’?
Ted Gioia
May 25, 2014
Boko Haram presents a more diabolical danger than anybody could have imagined a half-century ago.
We Built a School in Boko Haram’s Heartland
Michael Daly
May 13, 2014

Historical Examples of half-century

For about a half-minute that seemed a half-century, he didn't know what to do.
Mixed Faces
Roy Norton
I am glad of the gains the half-century has brought to the women of Anglo-Saxon birth.
The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV
Various
Sleighs were common in New York a half-century before they were in Boston.
Home Life in Colonial Days
Alice Morse Earle
But how big were the results of their half-century of labour?
The Minister of Evil
William Le Queux
Yet the first half-century of Australian history is all to do with the ocean.
The Beginning Of The Sea Story Of Australia
Louis Becke

British Dictionary definitions for half-century

half-century

noun plural -ies

a period of 50 yearsduring the past half-century
1. a score or grouping of 50a half-century of points
2. (as modifier)as I near the half-century mark

century

noun plural -ries

a period of 100 years
one of the successive periods of 100 years dated before or after an epoch or event, esp the birth of Christ
1. a score or grouping of 100to score a century in cricket
2. mainly US(as modifier)the basketball team passed the century mark in their last game
(in ancient Rome) a unit of foot soldiers, originally 100 strong, later consisting of 60 to 80 menSee also maniple
(in ancient Rome) a division of the people for purposes of voting
(often capital) a style of type

Word Origin for century

C16: from Latin centuria, from centum hundred

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

Word Origin and History for half-century

century

1530s, "one hundred (of anything)," from Latin centuria "group of one hundred" of things of one kind (including a measure of land and a division of the Roman army, one-sixteenth of a legion, headed by a centurion), from centum "hundred" (see hundred) on analogy of decuria "a company of ten."

Used in Middle English from late 14c. as a division of land, from Roman use. The Modern English meaning is attested from 1650s, short for century of years (1620s). The older, general sense is preserved in the meaning "score of 100 points" in cricket and some other sports. Related: Centurial.

Idioms and Phrases with half-century

century

see turn of the century.