Adjacent Words

Century definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CENTURY, n.
1. In a general sense, a hundred; any thing consisting of a hundred parts.
2. A division of the Roman people for the purpose of electing magistrates and enacting laws, the people voting by centuries; also, a company consisting of a hundred men.
3. A period of a hundred years. This is the most common signification of the word; and as we begin our modern computation of time from the incarnation of Christ, the word is generally applied to some term of a hundred years subsequent to that event; as the fist or second century, or the tenth century. If we intend to apply the word to a different era, we use an explanatory adjunct; as the third century before the Christian era, or after the reign of Cyrus.
4. The Centuries of Magdeburg, a title given to an ecclesiastical history, arranged in 13 centuries, compiled by a great number of Protestants at Magdeburg.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a period of 100 years
2: ten 10s [syn: hundred, 100, C, century, one C]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ries) Etymology: Latin centuria, irregular from centum hundred Date: 1533 1. a subdivision of the Roman legion 2. a group, sequence, or series of 100 like things 3. a period of 100 years especially of the Christian era or of the preceding period of human history 4. a race over a hundred units (as yards or miles)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a a period of one hundred years. b any of the centuries reckoned from the birth of Christ (twentieth century = 1901-2000; fifth century BC = 500-401 BC). Usage: In modern use often reckoned as (e.g.) 1900-1999. 2 a a score etc. of a hundred in a sporting event, esp. a hundred runs by one batsman in cricket. b a group of a hundred things. 3 a a company in the ancient Roman army, orig. of 100 men. b an ancient Roman political division for voting. Phrases and idioms: century plant a plant, Agave americana, flowering once in many years and yielding sap from which tequila is distilled: also called American aloe (see ALOE). Etymology: L centuria f. centum hundred

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Century Cen"tu*ry, n.; pl. Centuries. [L. centuria (in senses 1 & 3), fr. centum a hundred: cf. F. centurie. See Cent.] 1. A hundred; as, a century of sonnets; an aggregate of a hundred things. [Archaic.] And on it said a century of prayers. --Shak. 2. A period of a hundred years; as, this event took place over two centuries ago. Note: Century, in the reckoning of time, although often used in a general way of any series of hundred consecutive years (as, a century of temperance work), usually signifies a division of the Christian era, consisting of a period of one hundred years ending with the hundredth year from which it is named; as, the first century (a. d. 1-100 inclusive); the seventh century (a.d. 601-700); the eighteenth century (a.d. 1701-1800). With words or phrases connecting it with some other system of chronology it is used of similar division of those eras; as, the first century of Rome (A.U.C. 1-100). 3. (Rom. Antiq.) (a) A division of the Roman people formed according to their property, for the purpose of voting for civil officers. (b) One of sixty companies into which a legion of the army was divided. It was Commanded by a centurion. Century plant (Bot.), the Agave Americana, formerly supposed to flower but once in a century; -- hence the name. See Agave. The Magdeburg Centuries, an ecclesiastical history of the first thirteen centuries, arranged in thirteen volumes, compiled in the 16th century by Protestant scholars at Magdeburg.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(centuries) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A century is a period of a hundred years that is used when stating a date. For example, the 19th century was the period from 1801 to 1900. ...celebrated figures of the late eighteenth century. ...a 17th-century merchant's house. N-COUNT: usu ord N 2. A century is any period of a hundred years. The drought there is the worst in a century. N-COUNT 3. In cricket, a century is a score of one hundred runs or more by one batsman. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Hundred. 2. Centenary, hundred years.

Moby Thesaurus

C, C-note, G, G-note, abundant year, academic year, aeon, age, ages, annum, bicentenary, bicentennial, bissextile year, buck, calendar month, calendar year, cartwheel, cent, cental, centare, centenarian, centenary, centennial, centennium, centigram, centimeter, centipede, centistere, centred, centref, centrev, centumvir, centumvirate, centurion, common year, copper, cwt, day, decade, decennary, decennium, defective year, dime, dollar, dollar bill, eternity, fifty cents, fin, fiscal year, fish, five cents, five hundred dollars, five-dollar bill, five-hundred-dollar bill, five-spot, fiver, fortnight, four bits, frogskin, grand, gross, half G, half a C, half dollar, half grand, hecatomb, hour, hundred, hundred-dollar bill, hundredweight, iron man, leap year, long, long hundred, long time, long while, lunar month, lunar year, lunation, luster, lustrum, man-hour, microsecond, mill, millennium, millisecond, minute, moment, month, month of Sundays, moon, nickel, one C, penny, quarter, quinquennium, red cent, regular year, right smart spell, sawbuck, second, semester, sesquicentenary, sesquicentennial, session, sidereal year, silver dollar, skin, smacker, solar year, sun, ten cents, ten-spot, tenner, tercentenary, tercentennial, term, thousand dollars, thousand-dollar bill, trimester, twelvemonth, twenty-dollar bill, twenty-five cents, two bits, two-dollar bill, two-spot, week, weekday, yard, year, years, years on end