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”; see 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

Sonko said his differences with Lo included topics such as the "CFA franc and management of debt" which stands at 132 percent of GDP.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

Thanks to a well-orchestrated write-in campaign, Biden still received more than 63 percent of the vote, then he secured 96.2 percent in the party-sanctioned first contest in South Carolina.

From Slate • May 26, 2026

American equities appear to be headed for a positive open, with futures tied to the S&P 500 about half a percent higher.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

Oil prices fluctuated on the geopolitical uncertainty, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate down over five percent, and international benchmark North Sea Brent slightly up.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

For the entire year they would fall, nationally, by 2 percent.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

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