percent

Language: en

🇬🇧 /pəˈsɛnt/ 🇺🇸 /pɜrˈsɛnt/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A rate or proportion per hundred; a fraction of a whole expressed in hundredths, denoted by the symbol %.
  2. adjective
    Of or relating to a proportion per hundred.
  3. adverb
    By a specified amount per hundred; in each hundred.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: percents

Collocations

percent of100 percentpercent increasepercent decreaseby a small percenta few percent

Derivatives

percentagepercentile

Synonyms

percentageproportionfractionrateratio

Commonly confused

percentage
EN: 'Percent' is used with a specific number (e.g., '50 percent'); 'percentage' is used more generally without a specific number (e.g., 'a large percentage of voters').
per cent
EN: 'Per cent' (two words) is a variant spelling, more common in British English; 'percent' (one word) is standard in American English.

Spelling tips

EN: Both 'percent' (one word) and 'per cent' (two words) are acceptable; the one-word form is preferred in American English. Note that 'percent' is typically invariable after a number (e.g., 'ten percent,' not 'ten percents').

💬 Examples

  1. About 75 percent of the students passed the exam.

  2. There was a ten percent increase in sales this quarter.

  3. The stock price dropped five percent overnight.