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

Derived 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

Thirty percent of the homeless population consists of families, most of whom are households headed by women with preschool-age children.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

According to Dong, that performance is exceptionally strong, exceeding the capacity of conventional DAC technologies by 10 to 50 percent.

From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026

Starmer has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product from next year, increasing to three percent in the next parliament.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

Seoul -- at the forefront of the region's tech-led rally to record highs -- shed more than one percent, having seen wild swings over the previous two days.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

This would ultimately be proved true in 2001, when scientists confirm that 95 percent of the population is naturally immune to leprosy.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

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