A century is a period of 100
year
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...
s. Centuries are numbered
ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A
centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at ...
or centenary is a hundredth anniversary, or a celebration of this, typically the remembrance of an event which took place a hundred years earlier.
Start and end of centuries
Although a century can mean any arbitrary period of 100
years
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...
, there are two viewpoints on the nature of standard centuries. One is based on strict construction, while the other is based on popular perception.
According to the strict construction, the 1st century
AD began with AD 1 and ended with AD 100, the 2nd century spanning the years 101 to 200, with the same pattern continuing onward. In this model, the ''n''-th century starts with the year that ends with "01", and ends with the year that ends with "00"; for example, the 20th century comprises the years 1901 to 2000 in strict usage.
In popular perception and practice, centuries are structured by grouping years based on sharing the 'hundreds' digit(s). In this model, the ''n''-th century starts with the year that ends in "00" and ends with the year ending in "99"; for example, the years 1900 to 1999, in
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, constitute the 20th century. (This is similar to the grouping of
"0-to-9 decades" which share the 'tens' digit.)
To facilitate calendrical calculations by computer, the
astronomical year numbering
Astronomical year numbering is based on AD/ CE year numbering, but follows normal decimal integer numbering more strictly. Thus, it has a year 0; the years before that are designated with negative numbers and the years after that are designated ...
and
ISO 8601
ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, w ...
systems both contain a
year zero
A year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar (nor in its predecessor, the Julian calendar); in this system, the year is followed directly by year . However, the ...
, with the astronomical year 0 corresponding to the year 1 BCE, the astronomical year -1 corresponding to 2 BCE, and so on.
Alternative naming systems
Informally, years may be referred to in groups based on the hundreds part of the year. In this system, the years 1900–1999 are referred to as the ''nineteen hundreds'' (''1900s''). Aside from English usage, this system is used in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
,
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
,
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
,
Icelandic,
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Hungarian. The Swedish ''nittonhundratalet'' (or ''1900-talet''), Danish ''nittenhundredetallet'' (or ''1900-tallet''), Norwegian ''nittenhundretallet'' (or '' 1900-tallet''), Finnish ''tuhatyhdeksänsataaluku'' (or ''1900-luku'') and Hungarian ''ezerkilencszázas évek'' (or ''1900-as évek'') refer unambiguously to the years 1900–1999.
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
also has a similar system, but it only expresses the hundreds and omits the word for “thousand”. This system mainly functions from the 11th to the 20th century:
:''il
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...
'' (that is “the four hundred”, the 15th century)
:''il
Cinquecento'' (that is “the five hundred”, the 16th century).
These terms are often used in other languages when referring to the
history of Italy
The history of Italy covers the ancient period, the Middle Ages, and the modern era. Since classical antiquity, ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, various Italic peoples (such as the Latins, Samnites, and Umbri), Celts, ''Magna Graecia'' ...
.
Similar dating units in other calendar systems
While the century has been commonly used in the West, other cultures and calendars have utilized differently sized groups of years in a similar manner. The
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...
, in particular, summarizes its years into groups of 60, while the
Aztec calendar considers groups of 52.
See also
*
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...
*
Ancient history
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
*
Before Christ
The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...
*
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
*
Decade
A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years.
Usage
Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...
*
List of decades, centuries, and millennia
*
Lustrum
A lūstrum (, plural lūstra) was a term for a five-year period in Ancient Rome.
It is distinct from the homograph ''lustrum'' ( ): a haunt of wild beasts (and figuratively, a den of vice), plural ''lustra'' ( ).Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary (20 ...
*
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
*
Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
*
Modern era
The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...
*
Saeculum
A is a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or, equivalently, the complete renewal of a human population. Originally it meant the time from the moment that something happened (for example the founding of a city) unt ...
*
Year
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
tp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/reference.guides/battle.centuries.txt ''The Battle of the Centuries'' Ruth Freitag,
U.S. Government Printing Office
The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. Available from the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250- 7954. Cite stock no. 030-001-00153-9. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
{{Time measurement and standards
100 (number)
Units of time