centenary

English

Etymology

From Latin centēnārius (“containing 100; local official overseeing a hundred”) either directly or via French centenaire, from centēnī (“100 each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from centum (“hundred”). Doublet of centenarian, centenarize, kantar, and quintal.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sɛnˈtɛnəɹi/, /ˈsɛntəˌnɛɹi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɛnˈtiːn(ə)ri/, /sənˈtiːn(ə)ri/, /sɛnˈtɛn(ə)ri/, /sənˈtɛn(ə)ri/

• Audio (Southern England)

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Adjective

centenary (not comparable)

1. Of or related to the number one hundred, particularly [c. 1451]

   Coordinate terms: unary, binary, trinary, tetranary, quintenary, hexanary, septenary, octonary, nonary, decenary, vicenary, tricenary, quadragenary, quinquagenary, semicentenary, sexagenary, septuagenary, octogenary, nonagenary, millenary

   1. Occurring every 100 years.
   2. Lasting or aged 100 years, 100-year-old.

      Synonyms: centennial, centenarian, hundred-year-old

   3. (historical, obsolete) Of or relating to hundreds, the administrative unit.

Translations

of or related to a period of 100 years

• Belarusian: стагадо́вы (stahadóvy)
• Bulgarian: стогодишен (stogodišen)
• Czech: stoletý (cs)
• Danish: hundredåret
• Dutch: honderdjarig (nl)
• Finnish: satavuotis- (fi)
• French: centenaire (fr)
• German: hundertjährig (de)
• Greek: εκατονταετής (el) m or f (ekatontaetís)
• Ido: centyara (io)
• Italian: centenario (it)
• Macedonian: стого́дишен (stogódišen)
• Maltese: ċentinarju, seklu
• Norman: chent'naithe
• Polish: stuletni (pl)
• Portuguese: centenário (pt)
• Russian: столе́тний (ru) (stolétnij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: стогодишњи

  Roman: stogodišnji (sh)

• Slovak: storočný
• Slovene: stoleten
• Spanish: centenario (es)
• Swedish: hundraårig (sv)
• Ukrainian: столі́тній (stolítnij)

Noun

centenary (plural centenaries)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of centurion: An officer commanding 100 men, especially (historical) in the Roman army.
2. (obsolete) Synonym of century: a period of 100 years.
3. Synonym of centennial: a hundredth anniversary.
   • 1941 September, “Notes and News: The London & Blackwall Cable Railway”, in Railway Magazine, pages 424–425:

     In the midst of a world war many centenaries pass unnoticed, but one which fell on August 2, namely, the opening of Fenchurch Street station, is deserving of record.

4. (uncommon) Synonym of hundredweight, especially (historical) in Greek and Roman contexts.
5. (historical) Synonym of centgrave: a position in the Frankish Empire overseeing local administration.
6. (historical) Synonym of hundredman: a position in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms overseeing local administration.
7. (obsolete) Synonym of hundred: a collection of 100 things.
8. (obsolete, rare) Synonym of centenarian: a person 100 or more years old.

Derived terms

• semicentenary, bicentenary, tricentenary, quadricentenary, quincentenary, sexcentenary, septicentenary, octocentenary, novocentenary

Verb

centenary (third-person singular simple present centenaries, present participle centenarying, simple past and past participle centenaried)

1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To celebrate the centennial of.

See also

• Thesaurus:frequency

References

• “centenary, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “† centenary, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2018.