centum Latin · revision 4560

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *dḱm̥tóm}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛn.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛn.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''centum''' (indeclinable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kn̥tom]], [[inh|ine-pro|*dḱm̥tóm|t=hundred]], continued directly.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sga|cét|t=hundred]], [[sa|शत|tr=śatá|t=hundred]], [[ae|satəm|t=hundred]], [[grc|ἑκατόν|tr=hekatón|t=hundred]], [[lt|šim̃tas|t=hundred]], [[cu|съто|tr=sŭto|t=hundred]], [[got|𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳|tr=hund|t=hundred]] and [[txb|kante|t=hundred]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The hundreds [[ducentī]], [[trecentī]] and so on were formed with an adjective [[m|la|-centī]], and [[centuria]] was a unit of a hundred.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was also a dry measure and a measure of salt or cloth.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(MLW) It survives as [[it|cento]], [[fr|cent]], [[es|ciento]] and [[pt|cento]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of an indefinitely large number.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English ''century'' is recorded, from ''centuria''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # A [[m|en|hundred]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A great many, countless.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A dry [[m|en|measure]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[centēnus]]

+ * [[centēsimus]]

+ * [[centiceps]]

+ * [[centiēns]]

+ * [[centifidus]]

+ * [[centifolius]]

+ * [[centigrānius]]

+ * [[centimanus]]

+ * [[centinodius]]

+ * [[centipeda]]

+ * [[centipelliō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[decem]]

+ * [[centuria]]

+ * [[en|century]]

+ * [[en|cent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Isidore derived it from a Greek word for “circle”.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}