century

Etymology

From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of century of years.

noun

1. A period of 100 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.
   He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design. 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess
   Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete. 2013-07-20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
2. A unit in ancient Roman army, originally of 100 army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing 60 to 70 or 80) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
   Holonyms: maniple, cohort, legion
3. A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
4. A hundred things of the same kind; a hundred.
   Hamilton reached his century 14 years after securing his maiden pole in the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007, which he went on to win to take the first step on the road to becoming Formula One's most successful driver. 2021-05-08, “'It's like my first' - history-maker Hamilton celebrates century of poles”, in France 24
5. (cricket) A hundred runs scored either by a single player in one innings, or by two players in a partnership.
6. (snooker) A score of one hundred points.
   That was his tenth professional century.
7. (sports) A race a hundred units (as meters, kilometres, miles) in length.
8. (US, informal) A banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.