centenarian
noun
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.
Examples of centenarian in a Sentence
Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
Anthony Rizzo sat down in the dugout and spoke with the centenarian for several minutes.
—Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 9 Mar. 2025
According to Statista, in 2016 there were 82,000 centenarians in the United States.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Apr. 2025
Experts say Newman’s study raises questions about whether places designated as blue zones actually have higher-than-normal percentages of centenarians.
—Hannah Singleton, Health, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for centenarian
Cite this Entry
“Centenarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/centenarian. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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centenarian
noun
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