Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Century
Cen′tu-ry
,Noun.
pl.
Centuries
(#)
. 1.
A hundred;
as, a
; an aggregate of a hundred things. century
of sonnets[Archaic.]
And on it said a
century
of prayers. Shakespeare
2.
A period of a hundred years;
as, this event took place over two
. centuries
ago☞ Century, in the reckoning of time, although often used in a general way of any series of hundred consecutive years (as, a century of temperance work), usually signifies a division of the Christian era, consisting of a period of one hundred years ending with the hundredth year from which it is named; as, the first century (
a
. d
. 1-100 inclusive); the seventh century (a
.d
. 601-700); the eighteenth century (a
.d
. 1701-1800). With words or phrases connecting it with some other system of chronology it is used of similar division of those eras; as, the first century of Rome (A.U.C. 1-100). 3.
(Rom. Antiq.)
(a)
A division of the Roman people formed according to their property, for the purpose of voting for civil officers.
(b)
One of sixty companies into which a legion of the army was divided. It was Commanded by a centurion.
Century plant
(Bot.)
, the
– Agave Americana
, formerly supposed to flower but once in a century; – hence the name. See Agave
. The Magdeburg Centuries
, an ecclesiastical history of the first thirteen centuries, arranged in thirteen volumes, compiled in the 16th century by Protestant scholars at Magdeburg.
Webster 1828 Edition
Century
CENTURY
,Noun.
1.
In a general sense, a hundred; any thing consisting of a hundred parts.2.
A division of the Roman people for the purpose of electing magistrates and enacting laws, the people voting by centuries; also, a company consisting of a hundred men.3.
A period of a hundred years. This is the most common signification of the word; and as we begin our modern computation of time from the incarnation of Christ, the word is generally applied to some term of a hundred years subsequent to that event; as the fist or second century, or the tenth century. If we intend to apply the word to a different era, we use an explanatory adjunct; as the third century before the Christian era, or after the reign of Cyrus.4.
The Centuries of Magdeburg, a title given to an ecclesiastical history, arranged in 13 centuries, compiled by a great number of Protestants at Magdeburg.