- a variation of percent.
per cent
Britishadverb
noun
-
a percentage or proportion
-
(often plural) securities yielding a rate of interest as specified
he bought three percents
Etymology
Origin of per cent
C16: from Medieval Latin per centum out of every hundred
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.
According to Shropshire Council, about 15 per cent of households in its area rely on oil-fuelled central heating, which is between 16,000 and 21,000 properties.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Residents living in a block of flats have won a legal battle against their housing association - after being faced with a service charge increase of more than 300 per cent.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The UAE is London's 20th-largest trading partner, accounting for 1.3 per cent of UK trade, despite significant investments in energy, infrastructure and technology.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
"Our national survey of more than 2,600 teachers found that... 70 per cent had frequently or occasionally seen the impact of manosphere social media influencers present on student attitudes and behaviour."
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
This program of “male annihilation” was begun in i960: a year later the Agriculture Department estimated that more than 99 per cent of the population had been eliminated.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
