hundred

HUN-druhd/ˈhʌndɹəd/

6 meanings of hundred

1
number 100numeral
The numerical value equal to 100, falling immediately after ninety-nine in counting.
The stadium held just over a hundred spectators that night.
He earned a hundred dollars mowing lawns all summer.
UsageSay a hundred or one hundred. After a number it takes no -s: two hundred people (not ~~incorrect: two hundreds people~~), but hundreds of people.
2
banknotenouncountable
A banknote with a face value of 100, such as a hundred-dollar bill or a hundred-euro note.
The waiter couldn't break a hundred so early in the morning.
She left two hundreds on the table for the excellent service.
UsageOften in break a hundred, meaning change it for smaller notes or coins.
3
noun
In the plural, following a number that gives a century's first two digits: the years making up that century, as in the eighteen hundreds.
Most of the town's brick buildings date from the mid-eighteen hundreds, when the railroad arrived.
Women's clothing changed dramatically over the course of the nineteen hundreds.
UsageUsually with the: the eighteen hundreds. In writing, figures are more common: the 1800s.
Note
The spoken way to name a span of years, and a handy guard against the century trap: the eighteen hundreds run from 1800 to 1899, while the nineteenth century, counted from year one, runs from 1801 to 1900. Early, mid- and late narrow the span; from 2000 on, speakers say the two thousands instead.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The eighteen hundreds cover 1800–1899. en.wikipedia.org
The nineteenth century covers 1801–1900. en.wikipedia.org
Strict century numbering begins with AD 1. en.wikipedia.org

Less common meanings

4
clock timenumeral
The spoken form of '00' in the minutes position when reading a time on the twenty-four-hour clock.
Report to the gate at fourteen hundred for boarding.
The patrol returns at twenty-two hundred each night.
UsageRead 14:00 as fourteen hundred, sometimes followed by hours. It names whole hours; 14:30 is fourteen thirty.
Note
Clock time spoken as whole hours: the word stands in for the two zeros, so 1300 is read thirteen hundred. It marks the exact hour and belongs to the clipped language of schedules and briefings. In Michael Prescott's Next Victim (2002), someone is told "the briefing starts at eleven hundred, sharp", and the sharp leans on the precision the word already carries.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
1300 denotes the exact hour and is read thirteen hundred. fontanaca.gov
Michael Prescott wrote Next Victim. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted sentence occurs in Next Victim. en.wiktionary.org
5
cricket scorenouncountable
In cricket, a single batsman's score of one hundred runs or more in an innings.
The opener brought up his hundred with a sharp single down the ground.
She has now made three hundreds this season.
UsageThe usual verbs are make and score: make a hundred. A century means the same.
Similarcentury, ton
Note
Cricket's great personal milestone for a batsman is counted from the threshold up, so an innings of 140 is still a hundred.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
A hundred is a score of at least 100 runs in one innings, so 140 qualifies. en.wikipedia.org
6
English districtnounhistoricalcountable
A subdivision of a county with its own court, used for local government in England and parts of Britain's former colonies, and still used in some places to identify land.
The sheriff summoned every freeman of the hundred to the open-air court.
Several neighboring hundreds were grouped together for the king's levy.
Note
Why the district was called a hundred is uncertain. It may first have meant an area of about a hundred hides, each the land needed to support a family, or one that supplied a hundred fighting men, and real hundreds varied widely in size. The term sits below the county in the old shire system and is chiefly historical, though hundreds still appear in South Australian land titles today.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
The reason the district was called a hundred is uncertain. pir.sa.gov.au
A hundred may originally have represented about a hundred hides. en.wikipedia.org
A hide originally represented enough land to support a family. blha.org.uk
Another proposed origin is an area required to supply a hundred fighting men. en.wikipedia.org
Actual hundreds varied widely in size. blha.org.uk
The hundred was below the county or shire in the administrative system. en.wikipedia.org
Hundreds still appear in South Australian land titles. pir.sa.gov.au

Practice

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Origin

Proto-Germanic *hundaradą combined *hundą, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm, with *radą, meaning "count." It passed into Old English as hundred and kept that form in Middle English. Dutch honderd, German Hundert, and Danish hundred are relatives.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Proto-Germanic *hundaradą combined *hundą with *radą, meaning "count." en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *hundą goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *hundaradą became Old English hundred and Middle English hundred. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch honderd, German Hundert, and Danish hundred are cognates of English hundred. en.wiktionary.org