Hundred (word)
Encyclopedia
Today in English
, a hundred is always taken to be equal to 100
. However, before the 18th century, it could mean other values, depending on the objects being counted. Sometimes the value of 100 was referred to as a small hundred and the larger value of 120 was referred to as a long hundred. This larger value originated with the Teutonic
tribes that invaded England
after the Romans
departed.
In the study of Indo-European languages
, the Centum-Satem isogloss
refers to the earliest form of the word "hundred" in a language as a rough marker of the language's place in the Indo-European language family. The words in the various languages are believed to share a deep origin; the "Centum-Satem" distinction refers to the language's treatment of what was originally the initial velar consonant in the word.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, a hundred is always taken to be equal to 100
100 (number)
100 is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.-In mathematics:One hundred is the square of 10...
. However, before the 18th century, it could mean other values, depending on the objects being counted. Sometimes the value of 100 was referred to as a small hundred and the larger value of 120 was referred to as a long hundred. This larger value originated with the Teutonic
Teutons
The Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
tribes that invaded England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
after the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
departed.
In the study of Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, the Centum-Satem isogloss
Centum-Satem isogloss
The centum-satem division is an isogloss of the Indo-European language family, related to the different evolution of the three dorsal consonant rows of the mainstream reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European:...
refers to the earliest form of the word "hundred" in a language as a rough marker of the language's place in the Indo-European language family. The words in the various languages are believed to share a deep origin; the "Centum-Satem" distinction refers to the language's treatment of what was originally the initial velar consonant in the word.