English
century
Century comes from Middle English centurie, from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria ‘a group of a hundred’, from centum ‘hundred’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥t‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tóm‘hundred’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntom‘hundred’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentum‘one hundred’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenturia‘any assembly of a hundred people or things’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400centurie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500centurie‘a count of one hundred’
- Englishearliest quotation 1624century
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥t‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tóm‘hundred’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kəntom‘hundred’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcentum‘one hundred’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenturia‘any assembly of a hundred people or things’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400centurie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500centurie‘a count of one hundred’
- Englishearliest quotation 1624century
Earliest quotation: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “'tis the subject of whole books: I might cite…”
The story
The most common modern use is an ellipsis of century of years.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’
ten, dick, decade, dean, dozen, den, diner, decimal, tenfold, denier, deca, dwt, doyen, deni, 50 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm ‘hundred’
through Latin centum ‘one hundred’
Today it means
noun A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ / century