A century is a period of a hundred years that is used when stating a date. For example, the 19th century was the period from 1801 to 1900.
...celebrated figures of the late eighteenth century.
...a 17th-century merchant's house.
2. countable noun
A century is any period of a hundred years.
The drought there is the worst in a century.
3. countable noun
In cricket, a century is a score of one hundred runs or more by one batsman.
century in British English
(ˈsɛntʃərɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-ries
1.
a period of 100 years
2.
one of the successive periods of 100 years dated before or after an epoch or event, esp the birth of Christ
3.
a.
a score or grouping of 100
to score a century in cricket
b. mainly US
(as modifier)
the basketball team passed the century mark in their last game
4.
(in ancient Rome) a unit of foot soldiers, originally 100 strong, later consisting of 60 to 80 men
See also maniple
5.
(in ancient Rome) a division of the people for purposes of voting
6. (often capital)
a style of type
Word origin
C16: from Latin centuria, from centum hundred
century in American English
(ˈsɛntʃəri; ˈsɛnʃəri)
nounWord forms: pluralˈcenturies
1.
any period of 100 years, as from 1620 to 1720
2.
a period of 100 years reckoned from a certain time, esp. from the beginning of the Christian Era ( a.d. 1) [ a.d. 1 through a.d. 100 is the first century a.d.; a.d. 1801 through a.d. 1900 is the 19th century a.d.; 400 b.c. through 301 b.c. is the 4th century b.c.]
in common usage, a century begins with a year ending in 00 and runs through 99, as1800-1899
3.
in ancient Rome
a.
a military unit, originally made up of 100 men
b.
a subdivision of the people made for voting purposes
4.
a series, group, or amount of a hundred
Derived forms
centurial (cenˈturial) (sɛnˈtʊriəl; sɛnˈtjooriəl)
adjective
Word origin
L centuria < centum, hundred
Examples of 'century' in a sentence
century
On these wickets, batsmen need to score centuries.
The Sun (2016)
The literature of the early 19th century is a catalogue of angst and loneliness.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
That’s the difference between governing in the modern era and governing in the 19th century.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
He scored a brilliant century.
The Sun (2016)
Until the 12th century people in London had burnt wood for fuel.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The 17th century was a period when the common man rose, but often without trace.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Wolves were driven out of Switzerland in the 19th century but they returned about a decade ago.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But it didn't sparkle until the 19th century.
The Sun (2016)
Here's hoping this fearless step into the 21st century will be one of many.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He scored four centuries in this year's IPL.
The Sun (2016)
This sense disappeared in the eighteenth century.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
The passages on the eighteenth century are inevitably the richest.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
On present trends we will need less and less land to feed more and more people during this century.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
In the 19th century a house was built within the ruins.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He has scored 31 centuries from that position.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
People of this century move about rapidly; we drive on motorways and dash around cities.
Improve Your Landscape Painting
Rural Canada has been undergoing rapid changes since the beginning of the century in one way or another.
Cloke, Paul J (ed) Rural Land-Use Planning in Developed Nations (1989)
The county enjoyed their most successful period for a century and produced a string of players for England.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But in the sixteenth century houses changed, a process which had begun much earlier but now became commonplace.
Diane Purkiss The English Civil War: A People's History (2006)
This is all a far cry from the turn of the last century when cricket and baseball went head to head for the affections of the locals.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He has already scored a century against South Africa on this trip.
The Sun (2015)
The utility theory of value in the eighteenth century Throughout the period in question, the dominant theory of value was based on the objective factor of labor.
Henry, John F The Making of Neoclassical Economics (1990)
In other languages
century
British English: century /ˈsɛntʃərɪ/ NOUN
A century is one hundred years.
...the late eighteenth century.
American English: century
Arabic: قَرْن
Brazilian Portuguese: século
Chinese: 世纪
Croatian: stoljeće
Czech: století
Danish: århundrede
Dutch: eeuw
European Spanish: siglo
Finnish: vuosisata
French: siècle
German: Jahrhundert
Greek: αιώνας
Italian: secolo
Japanese: 世紀
Korean: 1 세기
Norwegian: århundre
Polish: stulecie
European Portuguese: século
Romanian: secol
Russian: век
Latin American Spanish: siglo
Swedish: århundrade
Thai: ศตวรรษ
Turkish: yüzyıl
Ukrainian: століття
Vietnamese: thế kỷ
Chinese translation of 'century'
century
(ˈsɛntjurɪ)
n(c)
(= period) 世纪(紀) (shìjì) (个(個), gè)
(Cricket) 百分 (bǎifēn)
the 21st century21世纪(紀) (èrshíyī shìjì)
in the twenty-first century在21世纪(紀) (zài èrshíyī shìjì)