centavo

[ sen-tah-voh; Spanish sen-tah-vaw ]

noun

, plural cen·ta·vos [sen-, tah, -vohz, sen-, tah, -vaws].

1. one 100th of the monetary units of various nations, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Philippines.

centavo

/ sɛnˈtɑːvəʊ /

noun

1. a monetary unit of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units
2. a former monetary unit of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Portugal, worth one hundredth of their former standard units

Word History and Origins

Origin of centavo¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Spanish: “one 100th part,” equivalent to cent- “100” ( cent ) + -avo, from Latin -āvum as in octāvum “eighth”; octavo

Word History and Origins

Origin of centavo¹

Spanish: one hundredth part

Example Sentences

The coupon cost 30 centavos in Spain but could be exchanged for a 5-10 cent US postal stamp.

From Fox News

A pound of rice used to cost 25 centavos, for example.

From Seattle Times

Our Goya can piggy bank was down to its last centavos.

From Los Angeles Times

Not one of his friends brought home more than a couple of centavos a week to his family, but each and every boy came home to eat.

From Literature

When he first started working in the fields, in the nineteen-sixties, he earned fifty centavos for a day’s labor.

From The New Yorker