n. (Abbr. ct.)
A unit of currency in Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Cayman Islands, Republic of China (Taiwan), Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United States, Vatican City, and Zimbabwe.
[Middle English, from Old French, hundred, from Latin centum.]
Our Living Language The plural of cent is cent in some varieties of vernacular Southern English when preceded by a numeral: That costs eighty cent. The lack of the plural suffix -s in such constructions is also found with units of measurement like foot and pound. See Note at foot.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
