English Reference

Word

cent

US/ˈsɛnt/

UK/sˈɛnt/

Definitions

01currency unit

A1

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

A2

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

C2 · Music

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

B1

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

pennyfarthing

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

cent fundedcent increasecent of deaths

Related words

Idioms

two cents — One's opinion or thoughts.

Domain

Music

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very common
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/cent

English Reference