centenarian

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˌsɛntəˈnɛriən/ UK /ˌsɛntɪˈneəriən/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a person who is a hundred or more years old

The centenarian credited her long life to walking every morning.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is a hundred... oldster

Word family

Related forms centenary centennial century

Etymology

From Latin centenarius ('containing a hundred, of a hundred'), from centeni ('a hundred each'), from centum ('hundred'), + -an.

centenarius Latin centum Latin

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People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# centenarian

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** ˌsɛntəˈnɛriən
**IPA (UK):** ˌsɛntɪˈneəriən

## Meanings
1. a person who is a hundred or more years old

## Examples
- The centenarian credited her long life to walking every morning.

## Synonyms
- oldster

## Related Forms
- centenary
- centennial
- century

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: centenarius
- Root: centum

## Etymology
From Latin centenarius ('containing a hundred, of a hundred'), from centeni ('a hundred each'), from centum ('hundred'), + -an.

## AI Etymology
Centenarian comes from Latin centenarius ('containing a hundred, of a hundred'), from centeni ('a hundred each'), from centum ('hundred'), + -an. The historical trail runs through centenarius in Latin and centum in Latin. Morphologically, centenarian is transparent: it draws on Latin centenarius ('containing a hundred, of a hundred'), from centeni ('a hundred each'), from centum ('hundred'), + -an. Used as a noun and adjective, centenarian now means "a person who is a hundred or more years old", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as centenary, centennial, and century. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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centenarian

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