Etymograph

English

percentage

Percentage is percent + -age. Percent comes from Latin per centum ‘for every hundred’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEper centum1‘for every hundred’
  2. English1500–presentpercent1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2017percentage1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English percentage
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Walter Updegrave, How much income will you actually need in retirement?: “The replacement percentages are based largely on household spending…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEper centumWiktionary, English percentage‘for every hundred’
  2. English1500–presentpercentWiktionary, English percentage
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2017percentageWiktionary, English percentage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Walter Updegrave, How much income will you actually need in retirement?: “The replacement percentages are based largely on household spending…”

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Today it means

noun The amount, number or rate of something, regarded as part of a total of 100; a part of a whole.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “percentage”. 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 / Latin per centum / percentage