Century


A century is one hundred of something, usually one hundred consecutive
years, or 100 runs in cricket.

When dating years, centuries are usually taken to begin in the years
divisible by one hundred, or alternatively in the year after that, e.g.,
2000 or 2001. The use of the odd year came from the Anno Domini system of
religious dating, where the year 1 was supposedly the first "year of our
lord" and thus the first century would be years 1 to 100 inclusive. If the
alternative convention of including a year zero is used (as in the
astronomical calendar, see proleptic Gregorian calendar) then it may seem
reasonable to use 0 to 99 as the first century.

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A century was a unit in the Roman legion. Although originally 100 soldiers,
it was more commonly 80 soldiers, led by a centurion.