- Also: per centum in or for every hundredSymbol: %
- a percentage or proportion
- (often plural) securities yielding a rate of interest as specified: he bought three percents
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
per•cent or per cent /pɚˈsɛnt/USA pronunciation
n.
adj. [before a noun]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Mathematics one one-hundredth part;
1&sfracdenom;100&sfracend;:[uncountable* usually after a number]reduced our workload by fifty percent. - Mathematics percentage (defs. 1, 3):[countable* usually singular]What percent of the people will still vote for him?
adj. [before a noun]
- figured or expressed on the basis of a rate per hundred:a six percent interest rate.Symbol: %
per•cent
(pər sent′),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
per•cent′al, adj.
- MathematicsAlso called per centum. one one-hundredth part;
1⁄100. - Mathematicspercentage (defs. 1, 3.).
- British Termsstocks, bonds, etc., that bear an indicated rate of interest.
adj.
- figured or expressed on the basis of a rate or proportion per hundred (used in combination with a number in expressing rates of interest, proportions, etc.):to get three percent interest. Symbol:%
- short for Medieval Latin per centum by the hundred. See per, cent 1560–70
- Percent is from the Latin adverbial phrase per centum meaning "by the hundred.'' The Latin phrase entered English in the 16th century. Later, it was abbreviated per cent. with a final period. Eventually, the period was dropped and the two parts merged to produce the modern one-word form percent. The two-word form per cent is still used occasionally, but its use is diminishing. The percent sign (%) is used chiefly in scientific, tabular, or statistical material and only with numerals preceding it:58%.In the senses "rate or proportion per hundred'' and "proportion in general'' percent and percentage are frequently interchangeable. With a preceding number, only percent occurs (a 16 percent decline); with no preceding number, either occurs, but percentage is much more common:a certain percentage (or percent) of the land.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
per cent /pə ˈsɛnt/ adv
'percent' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
per cent
- absinthe
- absolute alcohol
- admiralty metal
- aldrin
- ale
- alpha-beta brass
- alpha brass
- aluminum brass
- aluminum bronze
- annualize
- architectural bronze
- ballistite
- barberite
- barrelage
- basal metabolic rate
- basis point
- bell metal
- beta
- bid-up
- black copper
- black pewter
- blasting gelatin
- blended whiskey
- blister copper
- blood level
- boost
- borosilicate glass
- Bourbon
- broken ice
- bronze
- bubble
- cadmium bronze
- calamine
- cap
- carbon 12
- cartridge brass
- chance
- cheese product
- clear
- coinage bronze
- commission
- constantan
- cordite
- corn whiskey
- cupronickel
- cut
- decimate
- decrease
- discount