centime

centime — noun

1. a small unit of money used in some countries, with one hundred centimes making o

1.名詞C2
釋義

a small unit of money used in some countries, with one hundred centimes making one franc or another main currency unit such as a dirham or gourde.

例句

The old menu in Paris listed coffee at thirty-five centimes a cup.

price pattern: [number] centimes

Bank records from Port-au-Prince still showed the tax in centimes.

in centimes — unit of account

同義詞
  • cent

    the closest English equivalent in currencies where the smaller unit is called a cent

  • penny

    a comparable small money unit or coin in British-related systems, not the French-based term

  • paisa

    the South Asian equivalent of a one-hundredth subunit in rupee-based systems

反義詞
  • franc

    the larger main unit made up of one hundred centimes

文法句型

[number] centimes

in centimes

one hundred centimes to the franc

用法筆記

Usually appears after numbers or in price statements. Distinguish from sense 2: sense 1 names the value inside a currency system, while sense 2 is the physical coin.

常見錯誤

❌One franc was worth ten centimes.
✅One franc was worth one hundred centimes.
💡a centime is one hundredth of the main unit, not one tenth.
❌The stamp cost fifty centime.
✅The stamp cost fifty centimes.
💡after numbers larger than one, the plural form is normally used.

2. a coin whose value is one centime.

2.名詞C2
釋義

a coin whose value is one centime.

例句

Ada found a silver centime under the bakery counter in Lyon.

The collector paid extra for a fifty-centime coin from colonial Algeria.

a fifty-centime coin

同義詞
  • one-cent coin

    an explicit label for a coin of this low value in another currency system

  • cent

    the nearest everyday equivalent in dollar-based and euro-based systems

文法句型

a centime

a fifty-centime coin

drop a centime into [slot/container]

用法筆記

Use this sense when the centime is a physical object that someone can hold, collect, or spend. If the sentence is about a price or exchange rate rather than a coin, sense 1 is the better match.

常見錯誤

❌She found a centimes in the drawer.
✅She found a centime in the drawer.
💡use the singular form for one coin.
❌He paid with a centime unit.
✅He paid with a centime coin.
💡this sense is the actual coin, not the value in the abstract.