Meanings
plural centners
- A unit of weight with different actual definitions in parts of Germany and Scandinavia, typically 100 local pounds.
1 more example
In the same year the mining industry of the country produced about 10 lbs. of gold, 2487 lbs. of silver, 43,297 centner copper, 600 centner copper-nickel, 6787 centner lead, 3286 centner brass, 1485 centner nickel-ore, 490,300 centner zinc-ore, 1200 lbs. cobalt-ore, besides quantities of manganese, sulphur, red ochre, vitriol, alum, black-lead, porphyry, marble and coal.
1875, John Murray, Handbook for travellers in Sweden, page 35 - A nonstandard metric unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms, commonly used as an agricultural measure in Eastern Bloc countries (similar to a bushel).
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms in the metric system
nouna United States unit of weight equivalent to 100 pounds
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Probably from Low German, cp. German Zentner, comparable to the hundredweight. Doublet of centenary, kantar, and quintal.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French quintal, centner
- quintalunit of weight of 100 base units
- centnerunit of weight of 100 base units
- quintalunit of weight of 100 kg
German Zentner, Doppelzentner
- Zentnerunit of weight of 100 base units
- Doppelzentnerunit of weight of 100 kg
- Zentnerunit of weight of 100 kg
Hungarian mázsa
- mázsaunit of weight of 100 kg
Swedish centner
- centnerunit of weight of 100 base units
Cite this entry
centner. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centner
“centner.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centner. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “centner,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centner.
Source: centner on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.