century plant

noun

"century-plant" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“century plant” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An agave (Agave americana) originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide.

Key facts for century plant
PropertyValue
Headwordcentury plant
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “century plant” sits in English frequency

century plant falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for century plant is 13 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for century plant, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: So named because the plant may live for several decades before producing flowers. Once a plant flowers and produces seeds, it dies. The correct English form is century plant, spelled C-E-N-T-U-R-Y- -P-L-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    An agave (Agave americana) originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide.
  2. 2
    Other plants in the genus Agave

Etymology

So named because the plant may live for several decades before producing flowers. Once a plant flowers and produces seeds, it dies.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "century plant"?
"century plant" is spelled C-E-N-T-U-R-Y- -P-L-A-N-T.
What does "century plant" mean?
As a noun, "century plant" means: An agave (Agave americana) originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide.
What is the origin of the word "century plant"?
So named because the plant may live for several decades before producing flowers. Once a plant flowers and produces seeds, it dies. 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.

Using “century plant”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-E-N-T-U-R-Y- -P-L-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list