What does “century” mean?
- 1
nouna period of one hundred years
The church was built in the 15th century.
Century at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈsɛntʃəri/ · SEN-chuh-ree
- Forms
- centuries
How to use “century” correctly
The 20th century is the years 1901 to 2000 (roughly the 1900s), so the number is one more than the first two digits.
Common phrases with “century”
- the 21st century
- for centuries
- the turn of the century
“century” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- event nounA2something that happens, especially something important or unusual
- history nounA2the study of events that happened in the past
- moment nounA2a very short period of time
- past nounA2the time before now
- period nounA2a length of time
- present nounA2something you give to someone, for example on their birthday
- stage nounA2a part or point in a process
- age nounA1the number of years someone has lived or something has existed