Crossword Dictionary
CENT
The cent is a monetary unit of many national currencies that equals 1â„100 of the basic monetary unit. Etymologically, the word 'cent' derives from the Latin word centum meaning hundred. The cent sign is commonly a simple minuscule (lower case) letter c. In North America, the c is crossed by a diagonal stroke or a vertical line (depending on typeface). The United States one cent coin is generally known by the nickname "penny", alluding to the British coin and unit of that name. Canada ended production of their 1¢ coin in 2012.
The cent may be represented by the cent sign, written in various ways according to the national convention and font choice. Most commonly seen forms are a minuscule letter c crossed by a diagonal stroke or a vertical line or by a simple c, depending on the currency (see below). Cent amounts from 1 to 99 can be represented as one or two digits followed by the appropriate abbreviation (2¢, 5c, 75¢, 99c), or as a subdivision of the base unit ($0.75, €0.99) In some countries, longer abbreviations like "ct." are used. Languages that use other alphabets have their own abbreviations and conventions.
The cent sign appeared as the shift of the 6 key on American manual typewriters, but that position has been taken over by the freestanding circumflex on computer keyboards. The character (offset 162) can still be created in most common code pages, including Unicode and Windows-1252: