Definition of: cent

(sent) noun
1. The hundredth part of a dollar. In the United States it is legal tender for all sums not exceeding twenty–five cents.
2. Centum or cento, hundred: used only in per cent, etc.
3. The hundredth part of a standard unit in other money systems, as of the florin of the Netherlands. Equivalent forms are the centavo, centesimo, and centime.
4. Music A unit of pitch equal to one one–hundredth of the interval between any two successive semi–tones of the equally tempered scale: An octave contains 1200 cents. ◆ Homophone: scent. [<F <L centum hundred]