centimeter
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of centimeter
From the French word centimètre, dating back to 1795–1805. See centi-, meter 1
Explanation
In the metric system, a centimeter is a unit of measurement that's about one-third the size of an inch. There are approximately 30 centimeters in a foot. The word centimeter comes from the French centimètre, a combination of the Latin word for "hundred," centum, and the French mètre. A centimeter is one hundredth of a meter—in other words, there are one hundred centimeters in one meter. In just about every part of the world besides the U.S., this word is spelled centimetre.
Vocabulary lists containing centimeter
Measurement and Data
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: cent
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: meter, metr
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Every square centimeter HBM takes is one less that can be used to make memory for other devices.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026
“It wasn’t the hardest project,” Gibson says, “but you do have to measure each tile to the centimeter because the apartment has moved slightly over the years, presumably from earthquakes.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025
Interplanetary space contains just a few dozen particles in each cubic centimeter — in comparison, the air we breathe has tens of quintillions of molecules per cubic centimeter.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2025
One study showed that men who had lost more than 3 centimeters of height had twice the risk of getting a hip fracture compared to men who had lost less than 1 centimeter.
From Slate • Feb. 27, 2025
It had to be precisely straight, he said, for the whole sixty-two- foot length of the boat, not a centimeter of variance from one end to the other or the boat would never run true.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
