cent French · revision 17191

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=ine-pro *ḱm̥tóm}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃t‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cent''' (plural ''cents'' when multiplied and not followed by another numeral)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|centum|t=hundred; a great number]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 589a) Wiktionary traces the Latin word through Proto-Italic to [[ine-pro|*ḱm̥tóm]].^(Wiktionary) Rey cites its correspondents [[sa|शत|tr=śatám]], [[lt|šimtas]], [[de|hundert]], [[en|hundred]] and [[grc|ἑκατόν|tr=hekatón]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|cento]], [[pro|cen]], [[ca|cent]], [[es|ciento]] and [[pt|cento]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) uses it as a cardinal number, ten times ten; the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1040) already has it for an indefinite large number.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''Set cenz chamels'' and the noun in ''a millers e a cent'', the forerunner of ''des mille et des cents''.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992) It served as an ordinal, “hundredth”, in dates (1243), and ''un cent'' “a hundred” is found in 1174–76.^(TLFi) Proportions were expressed by ''sor le cent'' (13th century), replaced by ''pour cent'' (1538); ''à cent pour cent'' “completely” dates from 1924.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) As “a great number” it appears in ''faire les cent pas'' and ''les quatre cents coups'', and the challenge ''je vous le donne en cent'' is in Scarron (1647).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) ''Les Cent-Jours'', Napoleon's return in 1815, is found in Balzac (1824).^(DHLF 1992) ''Centime'' was created in 1793 on the model of ''décime''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1040 – “A great number”, ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1243 – As an ordinal in a date.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Pour cent''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1647 – ''Je vous le donne en cent''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1793 – ''Centime''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1824 – ''Les Cent-Jours''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1924 – ''À cent pour cent''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # A [[m|en|hundred]]: ''cent euros'', ''deux cents mètres'', ''deux cent dix''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A great many: ''je te l'ai dit cent fois'', ''faire les cent pas'', ''faire les quatre cents coups''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(ordinal)'' Hundredth: ''page cent'', ''l'an deux cent''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The number one hundred; a hundred of something: ''un cent d'œufs''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Pour cent'': per cent, ''à cent pour cent'', completely.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[centaine]]

+ * [[centime]]

+ * [[centième]]

+ * [[pourcentage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[centuple]]

+ * [[centurie]]

+ * [[centurion]]

+ * [[la|centum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cent'' takes an ⟨s⟩ only when multiplied and not followed by another numeral: ''deux cents'', but ''deux cent un''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007) A separate noun ''cent'' (pronounced /sɛnt/) is the hundredth of a dollar, borrowed from American English in 1835 (earlier in 1798), and of a guilder, from Dutch; for the hundredth of a euro (1996) French says /sɑ̃/ or ''centime''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}