Word of the Day

: December 11, 2006

centenarian

noun sen-tuh-NAIR-ee-un

What It Means

: one that is 100 years old or older

centenarian in Context

"A government census reported 20,561 Japanese over the age of 100, a doubling of the ranks of centenarians in just five years." (Maclean's, June 2004)

Did You Know?

We can't say there are exactly 100 English words based on the Latin root "centum," meaning "hundred," but there are certainly dozens. "Centenarian" isn't the oldest one; it only dates from the late 1700s. Far older is "centurion" (an ancient Roman military officer), which has been around since the 13th century. A younger "centum" offspring is "centisecond," a rare term for 1/100 of a second that dates from the 1950s. From colorful words such as "centicipitous" (which means "100-headed") to practical ones like "centgener" ("a device for planting 100 seeds"), "centum" descendants have enlivened our language for centuries.