DictionaryAI

percent

per-SENT/pɚˈsɛnt/UKpuh-SENT/pə(ɹ)ˈsɛnt/

Noun pluralpercent, percents

UK spellingper cent

4 meanings of percent

Practice

  1. 1
    after a numberadverb
    Out of every hundred, used after a number to show part of a whole.

    Nearly ninety percent of the seats were already filled.

    Prices went up three percent last month.

    UsageNo s after a number: sixty percent (not incorrect: sixty percents). Say 60 percent of the people are.

    Note
  2. 2
    nouncountable
    One part out of every hundred, or an amount counted that way, like a percentage.

    Like one slice when you cut a cake into a hundred equal slices.

    Even a single percent of that prize would pay my rent.

    What percent of the class passed the math test?

    UsageYou can say a percent or half a percent. With no number, people usually say percentage.

    Note
  3. 3
    symbolnouncountable
    The symbol %, used to show a proportion out of a hundred.

    Like the dollar sign, but it shows parts out of a hundred instead of money.

    She forgot to type the percent after the number.

    Add a percent to the end so the cell formats correctly.

    UsageOften called the percent sign.

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    noundated
    An investment that pays a guaranteed yearly income at a fixed percentage rate.
    Why, from the pleasant and businesslike manner in which the transaction is carried out, it might be a large purchase in the three per cents. Yet what a piece of work a man makes of his first "pop."
    1886, Jerome K. Jerome, “On Being Hard Up”

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of percent apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From New Latin per centum, meaning "by the hundred."

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts