Spanish word

ciento

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈθjento/

Meaning

  • numberone hundred, hundred

Example

En la fiesta había ciento veinte personas.

There were one hundred twenty people at the party.

Illustration for ciento (one hundred)

More examples

La receta pide ciento veinte gramos de harina.

The recipe calls for one hundred twenty grams of flour.

Core concept

The hundred element used to build numbers between 101 and 199.

Common phrases

  • ciento veinte

    one hundred twenty

  • ciento diez

    one hundred ten

Similar words

cien: Marks exactly 100, used when the total is precisely one hundred.
cientos: Marks a rough quantity of hundreds to mean 'hundreds of' many items.

Definition in Spanish

Forma del numeral usada para unir 100 con otra cifra en los números del 101 al 199, por ejemplo «ciento cinco».

Word origin

From Latin centum, Spanish developed two forms by sound change and usage: cien for the isolated 100 and ciento for combining 100 with another digit.

Usage tips

  • Ciento is used for numbers over 100 even before a noun (ciento veinte personas), whereas cien is used for exactly 100 (cien personas).

Related words

Word lists with this word