centenary, a. and n.
(see below)
Also 6 centenaire, 7 centinary.
[ad. L. centēnāri-us ‘consisting of’ or ‘containing a hundred’, hence ‘of a hundred years old’ (a sense not actually recorded in ancient Lat., though the corresp. sense occurs with the other words of the same class, from vīcēnārius of twenty years, to nōnāgēnārius of ninety years old); f. centēnī a hundred each, f. centum hundred. In F. centenaire.
The regularly analogous pronunciation is (ˈsɛntɪnərɪ); cf. millenary, culinary, promontory; but some say (sɛnˈtiːnərɪ); cf. catenary; others, with less reason, (sɛnˈtɛnərɪ), as if the word were centennary, and connected with centennium.]
A. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to the space of a hundred years.
| 1647 Fuller Good Th. in Worse T. (1841) 92 Centenary years returned but seldom. 1688 Answ. Talon's Plea 30 The Centinary possession, as they call it, or the enjoyment for many Ages can make no prescription against Sovereignty. c 1811 Fuseli Lect. Art iv. (1848) 452 During the course of nearly a centenary practice. 1830 Bp. Monk Life Bentley (1833) I. 190 The University of Frankfort..having resolved to celebrate the centenary anniversary of its foundation. 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks x. 410 Dividing the total thickness of the bed by the centenary elevation. |
2. gen. Of or belonging to a hundred.
| 1768 E. Buys Dict. Terms of Art, Centenary, belonging to an Hundred. 1824 Heber Jrnl. ix. (ed. 2) I. 267 The centenary and millesimal way in which the Hindoos express themselves. |
3. Relating to the division of a county called a ‘hundred’.
| 1837 Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar ii. (1844) 53 Marco ascertained that they were the ‘sworn centenary deputies’, a phrase by which I suppose he means the jurors who answered for and represented the several Hundreds. 1879 Green Read. Eng. Hist. xxiii. 115. |
B. n.
† 1. A weight of a hundred pounds. Obs. [= late L. centēnārium].
| [c 636 Isidore Orig. xvi. xxv. 23 Centenarium numeri nomen est, eo quod centum librarum ponderis sit. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxx. (1495) 939 Centenarium is the name of a nombre for it conteyneth an hundryd pounde.] 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 134, 300 Centenaires of lead. 1656 W. Dugard Gate Lat. Unl. §536 A hundred pound make a Centenary, or hundred-pound waight. 1712 Perquisite-Monger 7 The Loan of only ten Gold Centenaries. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1846) V. liii. 256 Their pay..computed at thirty-four centenaries of gold. |
2. A space, duration, or age of one hundred years; a centennium or century.
| 1607 R. C. tr. H. Estienne's World Wonders 229 We haue seene sundry strange things in this last centenary of the world. 1627 Hakewill Apol. iv. 49 If we should allow but one inch of decrease in the growth of men for every Centenary. 1865 De Morgan Paradoxes (1872) 11 [The editorial system] has grown up in the last centenary—a word I may use to signify the hundred years now ending, and to avoid the ambiguity of century. 1884 Birmingh. Weekly Post 6 Dec. 3/4 Mr. John Hogben..on Sunday completed his centenary. |
3. A centennial anniversary; the celebration of the accomplishment of a centennium.
| 1788 Ann. Reg. 220 Among the clubs of London who celebrated the centenary of the glorious revolution. 1839 T. Jackson (title), The Centenary of Wesleyan Methodism. 1859 Times Jan. 26 The Burns centenary was celebrated last night. 1885 Pall Mall G. 20 June 3/2 The [Handel] festival is one full year before its time, owing to the present rage for centenaries. This is the second centenary of Handel's birth. |
4. A centenarian. rare. [= L. *centēnārius, F. centenaire.]
| 1834–43 Southey Doctor cxxxii, Centenaries, he thought, must have been ravens and tortoises. |
5. (See quot.)
| 1700 Sir H. Chauncy Hist. Antiq. Herts. (1826) I. 52 Every Hundred was govern'd by a particular officer, called a Centenary or a Hundredary. |
Hence centenary v.
| 1888 Scottish Leader 9 Apr. 4 Those who had already monuments enough might be centenaried, while one whose centenary was not available might have a new monument. |