cent

A2 Topic:Money & Finance

US /sɛnt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

scent /sɛnt/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like saint /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Freq #5970

Meanings

1

noun
A unit of money worth one hundredth of a dollar, euro, or similar currency.

The pen only cost fifty cents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a unit of money worth one... penny

Word family

Forms cents

Derived forms bitcentcentagedollar-and-centten-cent

Related forms centennialcenti-centipede centurion century dollar euro

Simplified etymology

Cent derives from the same ancient root as Latin centum, “hundred,” and English hundred. Its monetary use dates from the late 18th century.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm Proto-Italic *kəntom Latin centum Old French centbor. Middle English cent English cent From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

cent Middle English centum Latin *ḱm̥tóm Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Money & Finance

External links

# cent

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /sɛnt/
**Frequency rank:** 5970

## Meanings
1. A unit of money worth one hundredth of a dollar, euro, or similar currency.

## Examples
- The pen only cost fifty cents.

## Derived Forms
- bitcent
- centage
- dollar-and-cent
- ten-cent

## Related Forms
- centennial
- centi-
- centipede
- centurion
- century
- dollar
- euro

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cent
- Root: centum
- Root: *ḱm̥tóm

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm Proto-Italic *kəntom Latin centum Old French centbor. Middle English cent English cent From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

## AI Etymology
cent is a noun. It is from Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm. Historical forms in the chain include cent (Middle English), cent (Old French), centum (Latin), and *ḱm̥tóm (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include a unit of money worth one hundredth of a dollar, euro, or similar currency. Derived forms include bitcent, centage, dollar-and-cent, and ten-cent. Related words include centennial, centi-, centipede, and centurion.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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