one of the successive periods of 100 years reckoned forward or backward from a recognized chronological epoch, esp. from the assumed date of the birth of Jesus.
3.
any group or collection of 100: a century of limericks.
4.
(in the ancient Roman army) a company, consisting of approximately 100 men.
5.
one of the voting divisions of the ancient Roman people, each division having one vote.
6.
(initial capital letter) Printing. a style of type.
7.
Slang. a hundred-dollar bill; 100 dollars.
8.
Sports. a race of 100 yards or meters, as in track or swimming, or of 100 miles, as in bicycle racing.
9.
Cricket. a score of at least 100 runs made by one batsman in a single inning.
[Origin: 1525–35; < L centuria unit made up of 100 parts, esp. company of soldiers, equiv. to cent(um) 100 + -uria, perh. extracted from decuriadecury]
1533, "one hundred (of anything)," from L. centuria "group of one hundred" (including a measure of land and a division of the Roman army headed by a centurion), from centum "hundred" (see hundred). The Mod.E. meaning is attested from 1628, short for century of years.
Century Village, FL (CDP, FIPS 11437) Location: 26.71364 N, 80.12912 W Population (1990): 8363 (7621 housing units) Area: 2.6 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Century, FL (town, FIPS 11375) Location: 30.97747 N, 87.26153 W Population (1990): 1989 (872 housing units) Area: 8.5 sq km (land), 0.2 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 32535
Cen*tu"ri*a`tor\, Centurist \Cen"tu*rist\, n. [Cf. F. centuriateur.] An historian who distinguishes time by centuries, esp. one of those who wrote the "Magdeburg Centuries." See under Century. [R.]
Cen*tu"ri*on\, n. [L. centurio, fr. centuria; cf. F. centurion. See Century.] (Rom. Hist.) A military officer who commanded a minor division of the Roman army; a captain of a century. A centurion of the hand called the Italian band. --Acts x. 1.
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.
Hun"dred\, n. [OE. hundred, AS. hundred a territorial division; hund hundred + a word akin to Goth. ga-ra?jan to count, L. ratio reckoning, account; akin to OS. hunderod, hund, D. hondred, G. hundert, OHG. also hunt, Icel. hundra?, Dan. hundrede, Sw. hundra, hundrade, Goth. hund, Lith. szimtas, Russ. sto, W. cant, Ir. cead, L. centum, Gr. ?, Skr. [,c]ata. [root]309. Cf. Cent, Century, Hecatomb, Quintal, and Reason.]1. The product of ten mulitplied by ten, or the number of ten times ten; a collection or sum, consisting of ten times ten units or objects; five score. Also, a symbol representing one hundred units, as 100 or C. With many hundreds treading on his heels. --Shak. Note: The word hundred, as well as thousand, million, etc., often takes a plural form. We may say hundreds, or many hundreds, meaning individual objects or units, but with an ordinal numeral adjective in constructions like five hundreds, or eight hundreds, it is usually intended to consider each hundred as a separate aggregate; as, ten hundreds are one thousand. 2. A division of a country in England, supposed to have originally contained a hundred families, or freemen. Hundred court, a court held for all the inhabitants of a hundred. [Eng.] --Blackstone.
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