percent

American  

[per-sent] / pərˈsɛnt /

Or per cent

noun

1. Also called per centum.  one one-hundredth part; 1/100.

2. percentage.

3. British. stocks, bonds, etc., that bear an indicated rate of interest.

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adjective

1. figured or expressed on the basis of a rate or proportion per hundred (used in combination with a number in expressing rates of interest, proportions, etc.): %

   to get three percent interest.

percent Scientific  

/ pər-sĕnt′ /

1. One part in a hundred. For example, 62 percent (also written 62%) means 62 parts out of 100.

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percent Cultural  

1. A fraction expressed as a number of hundredths. Twelve percent of a quantity, for example, is twelve one-hundredths of it. Twelve percent may also be written 12%.

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Commonly Confused

In the senses “rate or proportion per hundred” and “proportion in general” percent and percentage are frequently interchangeable. With a preceding number, only percent occurs ( a 16 percent decline ); with no preceding number, either occurs, but percentage is much more common: a certain percentage (or percent ) of the land.

Other Word Forms

• percental adjective

Etymology

Origin of percent

First recorded in 1560–70; short for Medieval Latin per centum “by the hundred”; per, cent

Explanation

A percent is part of something, split into a hundred pieces. For example, fifty percent of forty is twenty. You'll hear a lot about percent and percentages in math. A percent can go from 0 percent to 100 percent. A percent is calculated by comparing a part of something compared to the whole. A baseball player's batting average is a percent. Athletes are known for talking about numbers that are impossible, like "I gave 110 percent!" You can do that in slang, but don't try it in math class.

Example Sentences

Those who developed obesity between ages 17 and 29 had about a 70 percent higher risk of premature death compared with people who did not become obese before age 60.

From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026

More than 40 percent of Canadians told Angus Reid they were feeling medium or high levels of financial pressure over issues like food prices and personal debt.

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

He added that his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic had "no nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it."

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

When inflation is factored in, average weekly earnings slumped 0.9 percent in March.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

I know the Ranch isn’t one hundred percent perfect.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

• bonus
• chunk
• fee
• interest
• proportion
• rate
• ratio
• royalty