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per cent

British

/ pə ˈsɛnt /

adverb

Also: per centum. %. in or for every 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

noun

a percentage or proportion
(often plural) securities yielding a rate of interest as specified

he bought three percents

"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

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.

Thunderstorms had been predicted for Friday evening along with rain in 60 per cent of the region.

From BBC • May 29, 2026

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

PetTV is available to paid subscribers of Tencent Video, which said its market research found that 66 per cent of dog owners leave the television on for their pets when they are out.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Today, the global average is only 1.5 per cent, taking war and crime together.

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