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Glite Dictionary
cental

cental

9.9
A unit of weight in the United States equal to 100 pounds
  • noun
  • /ˈsɛn.təl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cental
  • A shipment of potatoes weighed one cental.

Examples

  • The price per cental of cotton varied depending on the season.

  • Farmers commonly used the cental when recording crop yields in the early 20th century.

  • The grain was sold by the cental.

  • He bought a cental of wheat last week.

  • The delivery included a full cental of rice for the restaurant.

  • Farmers measured their harvest in centals to keep track of yields.

  • She needed a cental of feed for her livestock to last through the winter.

Synonyms

hundredweight
vscental
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A weight of 100 pounds in the United States

is the same unit but uses a different traditional name
quintal
vscental
  • Archaic
9.9

A unit of weight equal to 100 pounds used for crops in the US

is the same American measure but is called differently elsewhere
short hundredweight
vscental
  • Specialized
9.1

An American measure of weight equal to 100 pounds, about 45 kilograms

is the same measure but prefers another historical label
cwt
vscental
  • Specialized
9.9

A unit of weight equal to 100 pounds used in the United States

is the same measure but without the commercial usage emphasis

Surface Forms

cental singular
centals plural

Morphology

cental = cent (opaque) = cent + al

The form appears to combine cent- with -al, but the resulting metrological term is specialized and not a meaning most learners could reliably infer.

Etymology

Cental comes from a word meaning 'hundred', as in cent the coin or century meaning 100 years. It was used to name a weight of 100 pounds, so cental simply means a unit equal to 100 pounds.