centum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛn.tũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛn.tum]^[1]

Forms

centum (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kn̥tom, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dḱm̥tóm (“hundred”), continued directly.^[2] Cognate with Old Irish cét (“hundred”), Sanskrit शत (śatá, “hundred”), Avestan satəm (“hundred”), Ancient Greek ἑκατόν (hekatón, “hundred”), Lithuanian šim̃tas (“hundred”), Old Church Slavonic съто (sŭto, “hundred”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳 (hund, “hundred”) and Tocharian B kante (“hundred”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was the number a hundred, indeclinable, also used of an indefinitely large number, as in Virgil's wish for a hundred tongues and a hundred mouths.^[4][5] The hundreds ducentī, trecentī and so on were formed with an adjective -centī, and centuria was a unit of a hundred.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was also a dry measure and a measure of salt or cloth.^[6][7] It survives as Italian cento, French cent, Spanish ciento and Portuguese cento.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an indefinitely large number.^[5][3]
• 1530s – English century is recorded, from centuria.^[8]

Meanings

Numeral

1. A hundred.^[4][5]
2. A great many, countless.^[4][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) A dry measure.^[6]

Word family

• centēnus
• centēsimus
• centiceps
• centiēns
• centifidus
• centifolius
• centigrānius
• centimanus
• centinodius
• centipeda
• centipelliō

Related words

• decem
• centuria
• English century
• English cent

Usage notes

Isidore derived it from a Greek word for “circle”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).