Etymograph

English

cent

Cent comes from Old French cent ‘one hundred’, from Latin centum ‘a hundred’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm ‘hundred’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tóm1‘hundred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntom1‘hundred’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentum1‘a hundred’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cent1‘one hundred’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cent1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1450cent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cent
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1450, Octouian Imperator: “And broght with hem many stout cent / Of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tómWiktionary, English cent‘hundred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntomWiktionary, English cent‘hundred’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentumWiktionary, English cent‘a hundred’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400centWiktionary, English cent‘one hundred’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500centWiktionary, English cent
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1450centWiktionary, English cent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1450, Octouian Imperator: “And broght with hem many stout cent / Of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

dick, ten, decade, dean, dozen, den, decimal, 58 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm ‘hundred’

hundred, 16 more

through Old French cent ‘one hundred’

sen, 1 more

Today it means

noun A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cent”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm / cent

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