Century definition

sĕnchə-rē
centuries
See word origin
Frequency:
Any period of 100 years, as from 1620 to 1720
noun
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One of the 193 electoral divisions of the Roman people.
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The definition of a century is a 100-year-long period of time.

An example of a century is the years 1800-1900.

noun
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A period of 100 consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100; a yearhundred.
noun
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Each of the successive periods of 100 years before or since the advent of the Christian era.
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A period of 100 years.
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A group of 100 things.
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A unit of the Roman army originally consisting of 100 men.
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A unit in ancient Roman, originally of 100 army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing 60 to 70 or 80) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
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A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
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(archaic) A hundred things; a hundred.
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(cricket) A hundred runs scored either by a single player in one innings, or by two players in a partnership.
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(cycling) A ride 100 kilometres in length.
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(US, informal) A banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.
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In ancient Rome.
  • A military unit, originally made up of 100 men.
  • A subdivision of the people made for voting purposes.
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A period of 100 years reckoned from a certain time, esp. from the beginning of the Christian Era (a.d. 1) [a.d. 1 through a.d. 100 is the first century a.d.; a.d. 1801 through a.d. 1900 is the 19th century a.d.; 400 b.c. through 301 b.c. is the 4th century b.c.]
noun
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A series, group, or amount of a hundred.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
century
Plural:
centuries

Origin of century

  • Latin centuria a group of a hundred from centum hundred dekm̥ in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”).

    From Wiktionary

Century Sentence Examples

  • We're living in the 21st century, Mary.

  • After a century, electricity was still being generated.

  • He was born in Ireland in the eighteenth century.

  • As for time; it could have been a year or a century ago.

  • A century later, machines entered the scene.

More sentences

Related articles

Words near century in the Dictionary