ENGLISH
REFERENCE

hundred

num. · n.
US //ˈhəndɝd// UK //hˈʌndɹəd// hun·dred
  1. 1 the number 100 (num.)
    A1 Beginner Math

    the number 100, which is ten times ten.

    the cardinal number 100, occurring after ninety-nine and before one hundred and one.

    Example

    There are one hundred centimeters in a meter.

    Example

    The company celebrated its first hundred years of operation by opening a new museum dedicated to its industrial heritage.

    • one hundred
    Pitfall
    There were hundreds people at the concert.
    There were hundreds of people at the concert.

    When using 'hundreds' as a noun to mean a large number, you must follow it with 'of' before the noun.

  2. 2 a banknote (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    a piece of paper money worth one hundred units, like dollars or euros.

    a banknote with a denomination of one hundred units of a specific currency.

    Example

    He paid for the expensive dinner with a hundred.

    Example

    The cashier held the hundred up to the light to verify the watermark before completing the transaction.

Show 2 more sensesShow fewer
  1. 3 cricket score (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate British English Sport

    a score of 100 runs or more by a single player in a game of cricket.

    a score of at least one hundred runs achieved by a single batsman in an innings.

    Example

    The crowd cheered when the captain finally reached his hundred.

    Example

    After a slow start, the opening batsman accelerated his scoring rate to reach a magnificent hundred before the tea break.

  2. 4 historical district (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic British English Law

    a small area of land used for local government in old England.

    a historical administrative subdivision of an English county, traditionally large enough to support one hundred households.

    Example

    In the Middle Ages, this village was the center of the local hundred.

    Example

    The ancient records of the hundred provide a detailed account of land ownership and tax collection in the fourteenth century.

Origin

From Middle English hundred, from Old English hundred, from Proto-Germanic hundaradą, from hundą (from Proto-Indo-European ḱm̥tóm) + radą (“count”), a neuter variant of *radō (“row, line, series”). Compare West Frisian hûndert, Dutch honderd, Low German hunnert, hunnerd, German Hundert, Danish hundred.

Word family
Idioms5 entries

© 2026 English Reference