percentage English · revision 5031

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1757|origins=en percent, en -age}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /pəˈsen.tɪdʒ/, US /pɚˈsen.t̬ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|percent|-age]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A rate or proportion per hundred: 1757 in MWU and the Historical Thesaurus,^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) 1786–9 in the OED, 1789 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Any proportion of a whole is a later, looser use.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) The informal sense “profit, advantage, likely benefit” is from 1862, originally American.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)^(OED 1989) ''Play the percentages'', to act on the odds, is slang from 1964.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1757 – a rate per hundred.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+ * 1862 – advantage, profit.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1964 – ''play the percentages''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An amount expressed as a number of parts in every hundred.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A part or [[proportion]] of a whole.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A share of the profits, such as a [[commission]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Advantage or profit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[percentaged]]

+ * [[percentage point]]

+ * [[slugging percentage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[percent]]

+ * [[percentile]]

+ * [[permillage]]

+ * [[cent]]

+ * [[century]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ After ''the'', percentage takes a singular verb (''the percentage of unskilled workers is small''); after ''a'', the verb agrees with the noun that follows (''a small percentage of the workers are unskilled'').^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}