-cent-

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

cent /sɛnt/   n. [countable]

1. Currency a coin that is the smallest unit of money of the U.S., equal to 1&sfracdenom;100&sfracend; of a dollar:
   A penny is a coin that is worth one cent.
2. Currency a unit of money of various other nations equal to 1&sfracdenom;100&sfracend; of the basic currency.

See -cent-.
cent.,  an abbreviation of:

1. Physics centigrade.
2. central.

-cent-, root. 

1. -cent- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "one hundred.'' This meaning is found in such words as: cent, centennial, centigrade, centimeter, centipede, century, percent.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

cent  (sent), n. 

1. Currency a bronze coin of the U.S., the 100th part of a U.S. dollar: made of steel during part of 1943. Symbol: ¢
2. Currency the 100th part of the monetary units of various other nations, including Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guyana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda.
3. sen³.

• Latin centēsimus hundredth (by shortening), equivalent. to cent(um) 100 (see hundred) + -ēsimus ordinal suffix
• Middle English 1325–75

cent-, 

1. var. of centi- before a vowel:
   centare.

cent., 

1. Physics centigrade.
2. central.
3. centum.
4. century.