Centuries

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Century \Cen"tu*ry\, n.; pl. {Centuries}. [L. centuria (in
     senses 1 & 3), fr. centum a hundred: cf. F. centurie. See
     {Cent}.]
     1. A hundred; as, a century of sonnets; an aggregate of a
        hundred things. [Archaic.]
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              And on it said a century of prayers.  --Shak.
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     2. A period of a hundred years; as, this event took place
        over two centuries ago.
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     Note: Century, in the reckoning of time, although often used
           in a general way of any series of hundred consecutive
           years (as, a century of temperance work), usually
           signifies a division of the Christian era, consisting
           of a period of one hundred years ending with the
           hundredth year from which it is named; as, the first
           century ({a}. {d}. 1-100 inclusive); the seventh
           century ({a}.{d}. 601-700); the eighteenth century
           ({a}.{d}. 1701-1800). With words or phrases connecting
           it with some other system of chronology it is used of
           similar division of those eras; as, the first century
           of Rome (A.U.C. 1-100).
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     3. (Rom. Antiq.)
        (a) A division of the Roman people formed according to
            their property, for the purpose of voting for civil
            officers.
        (b) One of sixty companies into which a legion of the army
            was divided. It was Commanded by a centurion.
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     {Century plant} (Bot.), the {Agave Americana}, formerly
        supposed to flower but once in a century; -- hence the
        name. See {Agave}.
  
     {The Magdeburg Centuries}, an ecclesiastical history of the
        first thirteen centuries, arranged in thirteen volumes,
        compiled in the 16th century by Protestant scholars at
        Magdeburg.
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