hundred

 
Pronunciation: /ˈhʌndrəd/

cardinal number (plural hundreds or (with numeral or quantifying word) hundred)

(a/one hundred)
  • the number equivalent to the product of ten and ten; ten more than ninety; 100: a hundred yards away there are just a hundred of us here (Roman numeral: c or C)
  • (hundreds) the numbers from one hundred to 999: an unknown number, probably in the hundreds, had already been lost
  • (hundreds) several hundred things or people: her coat cost hundreds of pounds
  • (usually hundreds) informal an unspecified large number: hundreds of letters poured in
  • (the —— hundreds) the years of a specified century: the early nineteen hundreds
  • one hundred years old: you must be over a hundred!
  • one hundred miles per hour.
  • Cricket a batsman’s score of a hundred runs or more: his ninth Test hundred
  • (chiefly in spoken English) used to express whole hours in the twenty-four-hour system: twelve hundred hours

noun

British historical
  • a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court: Wantage Hundred

Phrases

a (or one) hundred per cent

entirely; completely: I’m not a hundred per cent sure
[usually with negative] informal completely fit and healthy: she did not feel one hundred per cent
informal maximum effort and commitment: he always gave one hundred per cent for United

Derivatives

hundredfold

adjective & adverb

hundredth

ordinal number

Origin:

late Old English, from hund 'hundred' (from an Indo-European root shared with Latin centum and Greek hekaton) + a second element meaning 'number'; of Germanic origin and related to Dutch honderd and German hundert. The noun sense 'subdivision of a county' is of uncertain origin: it may originally have been equivalent to a hundred hides of land (see hide3)

Spelling help

The ending of hundred is spelled -dred.