percent
1. per.cent \p*r-'sent\ av [earlier per cent, fr. per + L centum hundred - more at ]HUNDRED : in the hundred : of each hundred 2. percent n or percent or percents pl pl percent 1a: one part in a hundred : HUNDREDTH 1b: PERCENTAGE pl percents, Brit 2: securities bearing a specified rate of interest 3. percent aj 1: reckoned on the basis of a whole divided into one hundred parts 2: paying interest at a specified percent