per cent
Britishadverb
noun
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a percentage or proportion
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(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.
Early analyses suggest that certain viral markers could identify about 40 per cent of cancer cases, while most healthy individuals do not carry them.
From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026
They say more than 85 per cent of aquatic and marine vegetation, including saltmarsh, seagrass and kelp, has been lost over the past 50 years.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
The five-year gilt rate was down the equivalent of a quarter per cent rate cut.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
"Between 10-24 per cent of the population unknowingly carry this germ at the back of their throats usually without any harm," said Lee.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
Until the late modern era, more than 90 per cent of humans were peasants who rose each morning to till the land by the sweat of their brows.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
