Meaning

noun a fractional monetary unit of several countries

noun a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm Proto-Italic *kəntom Latin centum Old French centbor. Middle English cent English cent From Middle English cent, from Old French cent, from Latin centum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0