centime

American  

[sahn-teem, sahn-teem] / ˈsɑn tim, sɑ̃ˈtim /

noun

centimes plural

1. a monetary unit of various nations and territories, as Lichtenstein, Martinique, Senegal, Switzerland, and Tahiti, one 100th of a franc.

2. a monetary unit of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg until the euro was adopted, one 100th of a franc.

3. a money of account of Haiti, one 100th of a gourde.

4. an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Algeria, one 100th of a dinar.

5. an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Morocco, one 100th of a dirham.

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centime British  

/ sɑ̃tim, ˈsɒnˌtiːm /

noun

1. a monetary unit of Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mali, Mayotte, Morocco, New Caledonia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Switzerland, and Togo. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units

2. a former monetary unit of Andorra, Belgium, France, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Luxembourg, Martinique, Monaco, and Réunion, worth one hundredth of a franc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• centimes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of centime

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French; Old French centiesme, from Latin centēsimum, accusative of centēsimus “hundredth”; see cent

Explanation

Just like a cent is one-hundredth of a dollar, a centime is one-hundredth of a franc, a basic unit of money once used in France and still used in Switzerland and some other places. Centimes aren't as common as they used to be, as some European countries that used to use francs now use euros. However, the centime lives on in some countries, especially those that were colonized or heavily influenced by France and still have many French speakers. For example, Algeria and Morocco still refer to one-hundredth of their base currencies — dinars and dirhams, respectively — as centimes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

centime centimes

Writing about the task at the time, she said she had to "put every single centime aside to pay" the book's printer.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2022

The owner of one modest boat sent a €10,000 donation but the tycoons and oligarchs failed to come up with a centime.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2018

Perhaps McDonald’s will find a way around the rule, just as Amazon got around a recent French law that prevented discount booksellers from offering free delivery by proposing delivery for 1 centime.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2014

"What's more I never stole a single centime."

From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2010

I generously offered him my four remaining coppers, and told him that I would stand by him as long as he had a centime in his pocket.

From My Unknown Chum by Fairbanks, Charles Bullard

“Even three centimes higher is dire when played out nationwide,” Anract said.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2021

According to a chalkboard on the wall, the gilets jaunes of Saint-Macaire had a thousand and forty euros and eighty-eight centimes to their name.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 24, 2019

Three large, silver valves deliver different honeys from vats into glass jars — and you can bring your own jar to save 60 centimes.

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2015

Against the dollar, it traded at 94.37 centimes.

From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 13, 2012

I gave the woman fifty centimes to make a tip, and she gave me back the copper piece, thinking I had misunderstood the price.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway