Meanings
- uncountableA period that began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1999; almost the same period as the 20th century (which, however, was from year 1901 to 2000)
LeZotte also gives readers a sense of M.V.S.L. (Martha's Vineyard Sign Language), used by the islanders through the mid-1900s but never fully documented, by combining "home signs" she used as a child with variations of American Sign Language.
2020 April 27, Meg Medina, “A Deaf Girl Finds Her Voice on Martha's Vineyard in the 19th Century”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2022 - uncountableA period that began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1909; almost the same period as the 1st decade of the 20th century, which, however, was from year 1901 to (the end of) 1910.
There are never-published treasures like British entrepreneur William Turner's scenes of Shanghai life in the early 1900s — probably taken with a homemade pinhole camera.
2010 May 3, Don Morrison, “The Capture of Shanghai”, in Time1 more example
Now, you know that the classical analytical explanation of agoraphobia of the early 1900s was that it represented a street phobia because the patient equated streetwalking with prostitutional activity[…]
1981, Donald F. Klein, Judith G. Rabkin, Anxiety: new research and changing conceptsSynonyms: noughties
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA period that began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1909; almost the same period as the 1st decade of the 20th century, which, however, was from year 1901 to (the end of) 1910.
Cite this entry
1900s. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/1900s
“1900s.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/1900s. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “1900s,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/1900s.
Source: 1900s on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.