How do you use the word "century" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "century" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "century": What does it mean to have an educated mind in the 21st century? The old church on the hill dates back to the twelfth century.

Century Meaning

/ˈsɛnt͡ʃʊɹi/

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA period of one hundred consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.

nounA unit in ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing sixty to seventy or eighty) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.

Sentence Examples

What does it mean to have an educated mind in the 21st century?

The old church on the hill dates back to the twelfth century.

Urban life in the nineteenth century is well documented.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

hundred

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The castle was built in the thirteenth ____ and still stands today.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

We are living in the twenty-first ____ of the modern era right now.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English centurie (“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum (“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of century of years.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design." — 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

"Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete." — 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2021:

"In 16th and 17th century Britain, for example, women’s alopecia was sometimes interpreted as retribution for sins, including adultery." — 2024 March 31, Glen Jankowski, “Alopecia in art history: The many ways women’s hair loss has been interpreted”, in CNN, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2025:

"But in fact the antinomy of exceptionalism and assimilationism has been there all along, and otherwise puzzling decisions from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries become readily understandable when seen as moments when assimilationism was ascendant. […] The Supreme Court confirmed this more than a century ago and has maintained it consistently ever since." — 2024 September 30, Michael Doran, “EXCEPTIONALISM AND ASSIMILATIONISM IN FEDERAL INDIAN LAW”, in Stanford Law School, volume 20, number 2, pages 268, 274, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2025:

"'tis the subject of whole books: I might cite a century of authors pro and con." — 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 2, subsection i:

Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words