cent

Etymology

From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

noun

1. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.
   It's true. 1.7 cents to make 1 cent. That really makes the phrase “you have to spend money to make money” ring painfully true. Nov 22 2015, “Pennies”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 35, John Oliver (actor), via HBO
2. (informal) A small sum of money.
   Every cent aside from his own expenses for the barest kind of living went to his down-and-out buddies. 1990, Lou Sullivan, From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, page 10
   He blew every last cent.
3. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the euro.
4. (money) A coin having face value of one cent (in either of the above senses).
5. (music) A hundredth of a semitone or half step.
6. (nuclear physics) A unit of reactivity equal to one hundredth of a dollar.
7. Abbreviation of century.
8. (obsolete, except in per cent) Abbreviation of centum. One hundred.
   And broght with hem many stout cent / Of green lordynges. c. 1450, Octouian Imperator (Octavian), lines 1463-4
   The demon makes his full descent / In one abundant shower of cent per cent. 1733, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays, //www.bartleby.com/203/145.html Epistle III to Allen, Lord Bathurst, 372
9. Abbreviation of centigrade.
10. Abbreviation of center.