Etymologically
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percento

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /perˈt͡ʃɛn.to/[1]

Forms

percento m (invariable)[1] Also written as two words, per cento, the usual spelling after a number, or with the symbol %.[2][3][4] GRADIT treats percento as a variant of per cento.[5]

Etymology

It is from Italian per + cento, the phrase per cento “in a hundred” written as one word, on the model of French pour cent, recorded in French from 1538.[6][7][2][3][8] The GDLI also compares English per cent (1568) and takes both from Latin per centum; it dates the French form only from 1845.[9] Nocentini classes it as an Italian formation of Romance origin.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in G. Boccardo in 1881, as a noun for a sum worked out as a percentage.[6][7] The GDLI quotes Boccardo on banking, where one usually reckons percento only by quarters or halves (a quarti o a mezzi).[9]

Semantic evolution

The adjective percentuale is slightly older than the noun: DELI finds it in 1878 in B. Veratti and in 1881 in Fanfani and Arlìa, correcting DEI's date of 1877.[6] As a feminine noun, percentuale was recorded in 1886 for a commission or tax worked out at so much per hundred, and the verb percentualizzare, to work out percentages from figures, in 1963.[6]

Vittorini wrote of each farmer handing over il suo bravo percento, his due share, of what he grew.[9] In modern use the joined spelling is mostly kept for the noun, while after a number the words are written apart or replaced by %.[3][4][2]

Timeline

  • 1538 – French pour cent is recorded, the model of the Italian phrase.[6]
  • 1878 – The adjective percentuale is first recorded.[6][7]
  • 1881 – G. Boccardo uses the noun percento.[6][7][2]
  • 1886 – Percentuale is recorded as a noun, “commission, percentage”.[6]
  • 1963 – The verb percentualizzare is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A percentage, a share counted in hundredths: Il venditore prende un percento su ogni contratto.[2][3][4][8]

Adverb

  1. After a number, per cent: so many in every hundred, usually written per cento or %: Il prezzo è salito del dodici per cento.[2][3][4]

Word family

  • percentuale
  • percentualizzare
  • per
  • cento
  • French pour cent
  • English per cent

Usage notes

After a number Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani prefer the separate spelling per cento or the symbol %, as in 10%.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca