Centime (from la, centesimus) is French for " cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

in several

Francophone countries French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

(including

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

). In France, the usage of ''centime'' goes back to the introduction of the decimal monetary system under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. This system aimed at replacing non-decimal fractions of older coins. A five-centime coin was known as a ''sou'', i.e. a

solidus Solidus (Latin for "solid") may refer to: * Solidus (coin), a Roman coin of nearly solid gold * Solidus (punctuation), or slash, a punctuation mark * Solidus (chemistry), the line on a phase diagram below which a substance is completely solid * ...

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

. In Francophone Canada of a

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar ( symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...

is officially known as a ''cent'' (pronounced /sɛnt/) in both English and French. However, in practice, the form of ''cenne'' (pronounced /sɛn/) has completely replaced the official ''cent''. Spoken and written use of the official form ''cent'' in Francophone Canada is exceptionally uncommon. In the

Canadian French Canadian French (french: français canadien) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes Varieties of French#Canada, multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Quebec French, Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Can ...

vernacular ''sou'', ''sou noir'' (' means "black" in French), ''cenne'', and ''cenne noire'' are all widely known, used, and accepted monikers when referring to either of a Canadian dollar or the 1¢ coin (colloquially known as a "penny" in North American English).

Subdivision of euro: cent or centime?

In the European community, ''cent'' is the official name for one hundredth of a

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. However, in French-speaking countries, the word ''centime ''is the preferred term. The Superior Council of the French language of Belgium recommended in 2001 the use of ''centime'', since ''cent'' is also the French word for "hundred". An analogous decision was published in the ''

Journal officiel A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' in France (2 December 1997). In Morocco,

dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

s are divided into 100 ''centime''s and one may find prices in the country quoted in ''centime''s rather than in dirhams. Sometimes ''centime''s are known as francs or, in former Spanish areas, pesetas.

Usage

A centime is one-hundredth of the following basic monetary units:

Current

Algerian dinar The dinar ( ar, rtl=yes, 1=دينار جزائري, links=, lit=, translit=Dīnār Ǧazāʾirī, ber, script=Tfng, 1=ⴷⵉⵏⴰⵕ ⴰⴷⵣⴰⵢⵔⵉ, links=, lit=, translit=, label=; sign: DA; code: DZD) is the monetary currency of Alger ...

Burundian franc The franc (ISO 4217 code is BIF) is the currency of Burundi. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', although coins have never been issued in centimes since Burundi began issuing its own currency. Only during the period when Burundi used ...

CFP franc The CFP franc (French: , called the ''franc'' in everyday use) is the currency used in the French overseas collectivities (, or COM) of French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna. The initials ''CFP'' originally stood for ('Frenc ...

CFA franc The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight We ...

Comorian franc The franc (french: link=no, franc comorien; ar, فرنك قمري; sign: FC; ISO 4217 code: KMF) is the official currency of Comoros. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', although no centime denominations have ever been issued. His ...

* Congolese franc *

Djiboutian franc The Djiboutian franc ( ar, فرنك) is the currency of Djibouti. Its ISO 4217 currency code is ''DJF''. Historically, it was subdivided into 100 ''centimes''. History From 1884, when the French Somaliland protectorate was established, the Fr ...

Ethiopian birr The birr ( am, ብር) is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 ''santim''. In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie I formally requested that the international community use the name ''Ethiopia'' (as it had already been known inte ...

(as santim) *

Guinean franc The Guinean franc (french: franc guinéen, ISO 4217 code: ''GNF'') is the currency of Guinea. It is subdivided into one hundred ''centimes'', but no centime denominations were ever issued. History First Guinean franc The first Guinean franc w ...

Haitian gourde The gourde () or goud () is the currency of Haiti. Its ISO 4217 code is HTG and it is divided into 100 ''centimes'' (French) or ''santim'' (Creole). The word "gourde" is a French cognate for the Spanish term "gordo", from the "pesos gordos" ( ...

Moroccan dirham The Moroccan dirham ( ar, درهم, translit=dirham, ary, درهم, translit=derhem; ber, ⴷⵔⵀⵎ, translit=drhm; sign: DH; code: MAD) is the official monetary currency of Morocco. It is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib, the central bank of ...

Rwandan franc The Rwandan franc (sign: FRw,National Bank of Rwanda.Currency characteristics" Accessed 2017-02-20. and possibly RF or R₣; ISO 4217: RWF) is the currency of Rwanda. It is subdivided into 100 centimes.National Bank of Rwanda.Legal tender." Acces ...

Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

(by French and English speakers only; Italian speakers use

centesimo ''Centesimo'' (plural centesimi) is the Italian word for "cent", derived from the Latin ''centesimus'' meaning "hundredth". In Italy it was the division of the Italian lira. Currencies that have centesimo as subunits include: Circulating * Swi ...

. See

Rappen A Rappen (pl. Rappen) originally was a variant of the medieval Pfennig ("penny") coin common to the Alemannic German regions Alsace, Sundgau, northern Switzerland and south-western Germany. As with other German pennies, its half-piece was a Hal ...

)

Obsolete

Algerian franc The franc was the currency of Algeria between 1848 and 1964. It was subdivided into 100 centimes. History The franc replaced the budju when France occupied the country. It was equivalent to the French franc and was revalued in 1960 at a rate of 1 ...

* Belgian franc (Dutch: ) *

Cambodian franc The franc was the currency of Cambodia between 1875 and 1885. It was equal to the French franc and was similarly subdivided into 100 ''centimes''. It circulated alongside the piastre (equal to the Mexican peso) with 1 piastre = 5.37 francs. It ...

* French Camerounian franc * French Guianan franc *

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

Guadeloupe franc The franc was the currency of Guadeloupe until 2002. It was subdivided into 100 ''centimes''. History The franc was introduced following France's recovery of the Islands from the U.K. in 1816. It replaced the livre. The French franc circulated, ...

Katangese franc The Katangese franc (french: franc katangais), was the currency of the unrecognized State of Katanga between 1960 and 1963 during its brief period of independence from the Republic of the Congo. It replaced the Congolese franc at par and was con ...

Latvian lats The lats (plural: ''lati'' or ''latu'' (if the number can be divided by 10), ISO 4217 currency code: LVL or 428) was the currency of Latvia from 1922 until 1940 and from 1993 until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. A two-week tran ...

(Latvian: santīms) *

Luxembourgish franc The Luxembourg franc (''F'' or ISO ''LUF'', lb, Frang), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except in 1941–44. In 1944–2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remaine ...

Malagasy franc The franc ( ISO 4217 code ''MGF'') was the currency of Madagascar until January 1, 2005. It was subdivided into 100 centimes. In Malagasy the corresponding term for the franc is ''iraimbilanja'', and five Malagasy francs is called ''ariary''. H ...

Malian franc The Malian franc was the independent currency of Mali between 1962 and 1984. Although technically subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', no subdivisions were issued. History Until 1962, Mali used the West African CFA franc. The Malian franc was introd ...

* Martinique franc * Monegasque franc *

Moroccan franc The franc ( ar, فرنك) was the currency of French Morocco from 1921. It became the currency of all Morocco in 1957 and circulated until 1974. It was divided into 100 centimes (Arabic: سنتيم). History Before the first World War, the Morocc ...

New Hebrides franc The franc was the currency of the Anglo-French Condominium of the Pacific island group of the New Hebrides (which became Vanuatu in 1980). It circulated alongside British and later Australian currency. The New Hebrides franc was nominally divide ...

* Réunion franc *

Spanish Peseta The peseta (, ), * ca, pesseta, was the currency of Spain between 1868 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a ''de facto'' currency used in Andorra (which had no national currency with legal tender). Etymology The name of th ...

Tunisian franc The franc ( French, ar, فرنك) was the currency of Tunisia between 1891 and 1958. It was divided into 100 centimes (صنتيم) and was equivalent to the French franc. History The franc replaced the rial in 1891 at the rate of 1 rial = 60 cen ...

* Westphalian frank

References

{{Reflist Marianne (personification)