centum
Noun pluralcentums
Pluralcentums
- 1Describing an Indo-European language that kept an old hard 'k' sound instead of turning it into an 's'-like sound.
Like sorting languages into two groups by one old sound: the centum ones keep the hard 'k'.
Latin is a centum language, keeping the old hard k-sound.
German and Celtic both belong to the centum group.
Oppositesatem
Note
- 2Full marks, 100 out of 100, in one subject on a school exam.
Like getting every question right: a top mark with nothing missed.
She got a centum in science on her board exams.
Scoring a centum is every student's dream.
UsageSay get a centum in maths.
Note
Less common meaning
- 3A group of one hundred poems that share the same rhythm or subject.
Tonda-mandala-sātacam, a centum of verses on the Conjeveram country, No. 148, C. M. 73. The sātacam is a poem of one hundred stanzas, in its appropriate metre.
1847, William Taylor, Madras Journal of Literature and Science
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
A borrowed word from Latin "centum," meaning "hundred." In linguistics it is used as a key example of a word that kept its old velar stop sound.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- English centum was borrowed from Latin centum, meaning hundred. en.wiktionary.org
- Its linguistic use reflects its preservation of a velar stop. en.wiktionary.org
A word-for-word translation of Sanskrit "śataka," meaning "a hundred." The sense of a perfect exam score comes from the 100-point grading used in India.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- This sense of centum is a word-for-word translation of Sanskrit śataka. en.wiktionary.org
- Sanskrit śataka means a hundred. en.wikipedia.org
- A satakam is a literary collection of one hundred verses. The academic-score sense of centum is a separate meaning. en.wikipedia.org
- Academic grading out of 100 is used in India. en.wikipedia.org