# century

Pronunciation: say "SEN-chuh-ree" US /ˈsɛn(t)ʃ(ə)ɹi/, AUS /ˈsen(t)ʃ(ə)ɹi/; UK say "SEN-chuu-ree" /ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/

## Noun

1. A period of one hundred consecutive years, often a numbered span such as the twentieth century, running roughly from 1900 to 1999.
   - Simple: A period of one hundred years, often counted from a set starting point.
   - _The factory kept operating for well over a century before it finally closed._
   - _Historians often group events into centuries to make long stretches of time easier to study._
2. A score of 100 or more in a game: in cricket, runs made by one batter or a partnership in an innings; in snooker, points made in a single break.
   - Simple: A score of 100 or more, such as 100 runs in cricket or 100 points in one turn at snooker.
   - _The batsman brought up his century with a sharp single down the ground._
   - _Their opening partnership reached a century before the first wicket fell._
3. A banknote worth one hundred dollars. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A bill worth one hundred dollars.
4. A set or group of one hundred items of the same kind.
   - Simple: A group of one hundred things of the same kind.
   - _The striker marked his century of goals for the club with a late header._
   - _With that win the veteran driver reached a century of podium finishes._
5. A race or ride of one hundred units of distance, such as a 100-meter sprint or a 100-mile bicycle ride.
   - Simple: A race or long ride that covers one hundred units, such as meters or miles.
   - _The cyclist finished the century in just under five hours._
   - _The charity century starts at dawn, and most riders need seven or eight hours to cover the distance._
6. A unit of the ancient Roman army, originally consisting of one hundred soldiers and later of varying size, commanded by a centurion.
   - Simple: A unit of the ancient Roman army commanded by a centurion, originally one hundred soldiers but later varying in size.
   - _The centurion drilled his century until their formations were flawless._
   - _Several centuries combined to form a single cohort._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A voting and political division of ancient Rome, whose members met and cast their votes as part of the Centuriate Assembly.

## Origin

This comes from Middle English centurie, borrowed via Old French centurie from Latin centuria, itself from centum ('one hundred'). Its most common modern meaning is a shortening of 'century of years'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/century (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).