Etymograph

English

century

Century comes from Middle English centurie, from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria ‘a group of a hundred’, from centum ‘hundred’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥1‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥t2‘ten’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tóm3‘hundred’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntom3‘hundred’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentum4‘one hundred’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenturia4‘any assembly of a hundred people or things’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400centurie4
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500centurie4‘a count of one hundred’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1624century4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin centum
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English century
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “'tis the subject of whole books: I might cite…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥tWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm‘ten’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tómWiktionary, Latin centum‘hundred’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntomWiktionary, Latin centum‘hundred’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentumWiktionary, English century‘one hundred’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenturiaWiktionary, English century‘any assembly of a hundred people or things’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400centurieWiktionary, English century
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500centurieWiktionary, English century‘a count of one hundred’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1624centuryWiktionary, English century. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “'tis the subject of whole books: I might cite…”

The story

The most common modern use is an ellipsis of century of years.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with century, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

  • ten ← tīen ← *tehun ← *tehun
  • dick ← *deg ← *deg ← *dekam
  • decade ← decādem ← δεκάς ← δέκα ← *dékə
  • dean ← den ← deen ← deien ← decānus
  • dozen ← dozaine ← doze ← *dōdeci ← duodecim
  • den ← denier ← denarius ← dēnus ← dec(em)
  • diner ← *dīnārius ← dēnārius ← dēnus ← dec(em)
  • decimal ← decimalis ← decimus ← decem ← *dekem
  • tenfold ← tīenfeald ← tīen ← *tehun ← *tehun
  • denier ← dēnārius ← dēnus ← dec(em) ← *dekəm
  • deca ← decas ← δεκάς ← δέκᾰ ← *dékə
  • dwt ← denarius ← dēnus ← dec(em) ← *dekəm

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Today it means

noun A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “century”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm, Latin centum. 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 *déḱm̥ / century