percent

1 of 3

noun

per·​cent pər-ˈsent How to pronounce percent (audio)
1
US percent or chiefly British per cent plural percent
a
: one part in a hundred
We provided 100 percent [=100%] of the labor.
I spend about 50 percent of my workday in meetings.
b
: percentage
A large percent of their income is used to pay rent.
2
percents plural, British : securities bearing a specified rate of interest
We invested in 3 percents.

percent

2 of 3

adjective

1
: reckoned on the basis of a whole divided into 100 parts
There was a 20 percent [=20%] increase in orders.
The manufacturer hopes to achieve a 10 percent decrease in carbon dioxide emissions.
2
: paying interest at a specified percent
a 4 percent government bond

percent

3 of 3

adverb

: in the hundred : of each hundred
The defendant was found 40 percent at fault.
I agreed with their suggestions one hundred percent.

Examples of percent in a Sentence

Noun The value has increased half a percent.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
This worked for a while; Reddit saw a nearly 70 percent increase in hours watched in just under a year. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024 In 2023, deals in the sector had a 46 percent close rate, a seven-point dip from the previous year, and a 30 percent fail rate, a seven-point uptick from 2022, according to an M&A review by financial software firm Datasite. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024 As of February, 116 single-family homes entered the market, a whopping 51 percent uptick compared to last year, Bloomberg reported. Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 14 Mar. 2024 Santa Clara County will automatically recount votes in races where the margin is less than 0.25 percent or less than 25 votes — but that only applies to races that fall completely in the county. Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024 The last time San Diego County saw a comparable exodus of residents was in the early 1990s when the region was mired in a deep recession and the jobless rate had surged to nearly 8 percent. Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2024 As The New York Times noted, SEC rules require investors who buy more than five percent of a company’s shares to disclose their stakes within 10 days of purchase — Musk allegedly missed this deadline, according to the agency. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 Almost 40 percent of the app’s users are now in their 30s and 40s, according to an analysis by the journalist Ryan Broderick. Kate Lindsay, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024 Raye is one of several women taking home trophies this year — 70 percent of this year’s winners were either female or non-binary, marking a change from recent years, as The Guardian points out. Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2024
Adjective
There is a 20 or so percent chance of isolated showers but nothing that will be a washout. Doug Phillips, Sun-Sentinel.com, 27 Apr. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'percent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

earlier per cent, from per + Latin centum hundred — more at hundred

First Known Use

Noun

1721, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Adjective

1888, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1568, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of percent was in 1568

Dictionary Entries Near percent

Cite this Entry

“Percent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/percent. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

percent

1 of 3 adverb
per·​cent pər-ˈsent How to pronounce percent (audio)
: in the hundred : of each hundred

percent

2 of 3 adjective
: measured or counted on the basis of a whole divided into one hundred parts
a five percent increase

percent

3 of 3 noun
plural percent or percents
1
: one part in a hundred : hundredth
50 percent of the students
2
: percentage sense 1
a large percent of her allowance

More from Merriam-Webster on percent

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