Added 5 October 2026
century
/ˈsɛn.t͡ʃʊɹ.i/ noun
In Latin: saeculum, centennium Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about century at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A period of one hundred 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 unit in ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing sixty to seventy or eighty) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
- A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
Origin
From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is an ellipsis of century of years.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)