Etymograph

English

percent

Percent comes from New Latin per centum ‘by the hundred’.

  1. New Latinc. 1500–1900per centum1‘by the hundred’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1848percent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English percent
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Edward W. Cox, Esq.: “[…]Several stocks in the Three Per Cents and Three…”.

Lineage

  1. New Latinc. 1500–1900per centumWiktionary, English percent‘by the hundred’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1848percentWiktionary, English percent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Edward W. Cox, Esq.: “[…]Several stocks in the Three Per Cents and Three…”

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Today it means

adv For every hundred (used with preceding numeral to form a noun phrase expressing a proportion).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “percent”. 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 / New Latin per centum / percent