centigrade

[ sen-ti-greyd ]

adjective

1. divided into 100 degrees, as a scale.
2. (initial capital letter) Celsius ( def 2 ). : cent. : C

centigrade

/ ˈsɛntɪˌɡreɪd /

adjective

1. a former name for Celsius

noun

1. a unit of angle equal to one hundredth of a grade

centigrade

/ sĕn′tĭ-grād′ /

1. See Celsius

centigrade

1. The Celsius temperature scale .

Usage

Although still used in meteorology, centigrade , when indicating the Celsius scale of temperature, is now usually avoided because of its possible confusion with the hundredth part of a grade

Word History and Origins

Origin of centigrade¹

From French, dating back to 1805–15; centi-, -grade

Usage

Because of confusion over the prefix centi–, which originally meant 100 but developed the meaning 1 100 , scientists agreed to stop using the term centigrade in 1948. The term Celsius is now standard.

Example Sentences

Let's not delude ourselves, we're looking at human extinction, the death of eight billion people, and there's no way that people will be able to survive in anything like an increase of 5º centigrade.

From Salon

However, chemical production using solid processes is energy intensive, requiring temperatures of up to a thousand degrees centigrade.

From Science Daily

Their most glaring mistake came when they chose to chase against South Africa, thus subjecting themselves to fielding in the worst of Mumbai's 37.4 degrees centigrade heat and high humidity.

From BBC

“They have made the assumption that the reality is the world will be at above 2 degrees centigrade within a matter of decades,” Lieberthal said.

From Los Angeles Times

The Big Bang theory postulates that the universe was inflated from a microscopic speck in a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, at a temperature of trillions degrees centigrade.

From Washington Post