cento

¹ American  

[sen-toh] / ˈsɛn toʊ /

noun

plural

centos

1. a piece of writing, especially a poem, composed wholly of quotations from the works of other authors.

2. anything composed of incongruous parts; conglomeration.

3. Obsolete. a patchwork.

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CENTO ² American  

[sen-toh] / ˈsɛn toʊ /

noun

1. a former organization (1959–79) for economic and military cooperation, established as successor to the Baghdad Pact, and comprising Great Britain, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. The U.S. had affiliate status.

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CENTO ¹ British  

/ ˈsɛntəʊ /

acronym

1. Central Treaty Organization; an organization for military and economic cooperation formed in 1959 by the UK, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey as a successor to the Baghdad Pact: disbanded 1979

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cento ² British  

/ ˈsɛntəʊ /

noun

1. a piece of writing, esp a poem, composed of quotations from other authors

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Other Word Forms

• centonical adjective
• centonism noun
• centonization noun

Etymology

Origin of cento¹

First recorded in 1595–1605, cento is from the Latin word centō patchwork quilt or curtain

Origin of CENTO²

Cen(tral) T(reaty) O(rganization)

Example Sentences

Author’s Note: A cento, from the Latin for “patchwork,” is a collage poem composed of lines from other sources.

From Scientific American • Feb. 4, 2023

While reading a cento, one savored its imaginative repurposing of bits from Horace, Virgil and any number of lesser ancients.

From Washington Post • Dec. 27, 2017

If not, it should, for Robert Irwin’s ingenious historical fantasy “Wonders Will Never Cease” is a contemporary novelist’s version of the poetic form known as a cento.

From Washington Post • Dec. 27, 2017

In its original form, the cento takes small pieces of familiar works such as the Aeneid and reassembles the segments—anywhere from a few words to two full lines—into a new text.

From Alida or, Miscellaneous Sketches of Incidents During the Late American War. Founded on Fact by Comfield, Amelia Stratton

On Mount Ætna is the famous Castagno di cento cavalli, so called from its having sheltered a hundred mounted cavaliers.

From Forest Life and Forest Trees: comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wild-wood adventure. with Descriptions of lumbering operations on the various rivers of Maine and New Brunswick by Springer, John S.