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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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