- a monetary unit of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units
- a former monetary unit of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Portugal, worth one hundredth of their former standard units
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
cen•ta•vo
(sen tä′vō; Sp. sen tä′vô),USA pronunciation n., pl. -vos (-vōz; Sp. -vôs).USA pronunciation
- Currencythe 100th part of the monetary units of various nations, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Portugal.
- Latin -āvum as in octāvum eighth; see octavo
- Spanish: the 100th part, equivalent. to cent- 100 (see cent) + -avo
- 1880–85
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
centavo /sɛnˈtɑːvəʊ/ n ( pl -vos)
'centavo' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):