century

/ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/

//ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"century" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“century” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,011. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,011
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000...

Corpus desk

Index EN-century · century · English

century · rank #1,011 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,011
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH album

Nearest frequency peer: album (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “century”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “century” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

century vs center
71% similar
century vs centre
71% similar
century vs centers
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for century
PropertyValue
Headwordcentury
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,011
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “century”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).centurylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “album” (#1,010), “charge” (#1,012), “y” (#1,009). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “century” is #1,011. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around century (IPA /ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,011 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for century, with forms such as "ccentury", "cenntury", and "centruy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "center", "centre", "centers", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of centu… The correct English form is century, spelled C-E-N-T-U-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.
  2. 2
    A unit in ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing sixty to seventy or eighty) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
  3. 3
    A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
  4. 4
    A hundred things of the same kind; a hundred.
  5. 5
    A hundred runs scored either by a single player in one innings, or by two players in a partnership.
  6. 6
    A score of one hundred points.
  7. 7
    A race a hundred units (as meters, kilometres, miles) in length.
  8. 8
    A banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how century appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Holonyms: kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
  2. Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < microcentury (humorous) < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond

Etymology

From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of century of years.

This word in other languages

centuria(Español)siècle(Français)Jahrhundert(Deutsch)século(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccentury
  • cenntury
  • centruy
  • centtury
  • centurry
  • centuryy
  • centuyr
  • cenutry
  • cetnury
  • cnetury
  • ecntury

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of century - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccentury1cenntury1centruy2centtury1centurry1centuryy1centuyr2cenutry2
Edit distance from "century"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "century"?
"century" is spelled C-E-N-T-U-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/.
What does "century" mean?
As a noun, "century" means: A period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000...
What words are commonly confused with "century"?
"century" is commonly confused with "center", "centre", "centers". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "century"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "century" is /ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "century"?
From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortenin... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "century", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tonight#1,007limited#1,021network#1,023respect#999

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

provided11 variantsrequired11 variantsincluded11 variantsstudent11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list