Centuries

How to spell centuries

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce centuries

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does centuries mean?

1. nounPeriods of one hundred years each, often used to describe long stretches of historical time.

Centuries in a sentence

• The cathedral has stood for several centuries.

• These traditions developed over many centuries.

Where does centuries come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of 'century', which descends from the Latin centuria, a word that originally meant a group or division of one hundred, especially a company of about a hundred soldiers in the Roman army or a voting unit of citizens. The root is centum, the Latin word for 'hundred', the same element hiding inside 'cent', 'percent', and 'centenary'. Over time the sense narrowed in English to a span of one hundred years, a usage that took hold in the 1600s. The plural simply changes the final '-y' to '-ies', which is the spelling trap: writers must remember to swap the 'y' for 'i' before adding '-es'. Keeping the 'cent' (hundred) root in mind helps anchor the opening of the word.

How the word is built

• cent- (from Latin centum: hundred)
• -ury (forming a noun)
• -ies (plural)