Percent
/pərˈsent/
Definitions
2 meaningsA rate, number, or amount in each hundred.
/pərˈsent/
A proportion or share in every hundred.
The discount is 20 percent off.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're at a pizza party. If 25 percent of the pizza is eaten, that means 25 slices out of every 100 slices are gone! It's a way of saying a part of a whole.
👶 For kids: A way to say how much of something there is, out of 100. Like, if you have 100 candies and you give away 10, that's 10 percent!
More Examples
A high percentage of students passed the test.
The company reported a 10 percent increase in sales.
How It's Used
"The interest rate is 5 percent per year."
"A large percentage of the population supports the proposal."
Expressed as a percentage; per 100
/pərˈsent/
By or for each hundred.
Sales went up five percent.
💡 Simply: Like the pizza example, you could say the price of a toy increased *percent* instead of 'per hundred' or 'out of 100'.
👶 For kids: A way of saying "out of 100" for prices or values.
More Examples
The price decreased ten percent.
How It's Used
"The price is increased ten percent."
Idioms & expressions
one hundred percent
Completely; entirely
"I am one hundred percent sure I locked the door."
From French *pour cent* meaning 'by the hundred' or 'out of one hundred', ultimately from Latin *per centum* (literally 'by the hundred').
The term gained popularity in the 17th century in relation to financial and mathematical calculations.
Memory tip
Think of "per cent" as "per 100." If something is 10%, it's 10 out of every 100.
Word Origin
"Per centum - by the hundred"