Etymology

percent

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Today it means: For every hundred (used with preceding numeral to form a noun phrase expressing a proportion). Full definition →

First used 16th c.New Latin per centum
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The story

  1. New Latin · borrowed fromper centum“by the hundred”
  2. English todaypercent

From New Latin per centum (“by the hundred”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 16th c. For every hundred (used with preceding numeral to form a noun phrase expressing a proportion).
  • from 19th c. One part per hundred; one percent, hundredth.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.