Word
cent
US/ˈsɛnt/
UK/sˈɛnt/
Definitions
01currency unit
n. a small unit of money that is worth one-hundredth of a dollar or a euro.
n. a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the basic unit in various countries, such as the dollar or euro.
“The candy costs ninety-nine cents plus tax.”
“The exchange rate fluctuated by only a fraction of a cent during the morning trading session, showing unusual stability.”
Synonyms
02physical coin
n. a small coin that has the value of one cent.
n. a physical coin representing the value of one cent.
“He found a shiny cent on the sidewalk and put it in his pocket.”
“The collector examined the rare copper cent under a magnifying glass to check for minting errors.”
Synonyms
03musical interval
n. a very small unit used to measure the difference between two musical notes.
n. a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals, where twelve hundred cents equal one octave.
“The piano tuner adjusted the string by just a few cents to make it perfect.”
“The digital tuner indicated that the violin's A-string was flat by approximately five cents.”
Technical
04small amount of money
n. any small or unimportant amount of money.
n. a negligible sum of money; frequently used in negative constructions to indicate total lack of funds or value.
“After paying his rent, he didn't have a cent left for food.”
“The bankrupt firm was unable to pay its creditors a single cent after the liquidation of its remaining assets.”
Informal
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Related words
Idioms
two cents — One's opinion or thoughts.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/cent