percent English · revision 2621

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1568|origins=la centum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pəˈsɛnt/ ''(UK)''; /pɚˈsɛnt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[la-new|per centum|t=by the hundred]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|per|t=by, through]] and [[m|la|centum|t=hundred]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate) compare Italian per cento.^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart says the English form was perhaps also influenced in some cases by Middle French pour cent.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “By the hundred”, after a numeral: 1568, as per cent.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) or the 1560s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the early 20th century it was often treated as an abbreviation and written ''per cent.'' with a full stop.^(Etymonline) The noun, “a percentage”, is from 1667, and the adjective from 1888.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) ''Percentage'' is from 1786–90, in Jeremy Bentham's works,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''percentile'', in statistics, from 1885.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1568 – ''per cent.''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1667 – noun, a percentage.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1786 – ''percentage''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1885 – ''percentile''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1888 – adjective.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In or for every hundred: ''ten percent''.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # One part in a hundred; a [[percentage]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Paying or charging interest at a stated percentage.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[percental]]

+ * [[percenter]]

+ * [[percentile]]

+ * [[percentage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cent]]

+ * [[century]]

+ * [[hundred]]

+ * [[per]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary notes that a quantity can be increased by any percentage but cannot be decreased by more than 100 percent, so advertising claims such as a 300 percent reduction are logically nonsensical.^(AHD) In British English ''per cent'', written as two words, is the normal form.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}