You searched for: “percent
percent, per cent; percentage; percentile
percent, per cent (puhr SENT) (noun)
An amount that is equal to one one-hundredth of something: It is estimated that water covers more than 70 percent of the earth's surface.

Shelby is 99.9 percent sure that her version of the incident is accurate.

percentage (puhr SEN tij) (noun)
1. A share of the winnings of an undertaking: After taxes, Scott received a percentage of the profit from the sale of the property.

Camille was pleased with her percentage of the bet she made at the horse race in the afternoon.

2. Part of the whole of something presented in hundredths: Sally asked, "What is the percentage of winners in the lottery?"
percentile (puhr SENT tighl") (noun)
One of 100 equal parts that a group of people can be divided into in order to rank them: Larry's friend scored in the 95th percentile in advanced vocabulary skills.

Trina wonders what the percentage is of people who achieve a 100 percent on their driver's test. Her mother was in the top 75th percentile of her age when she took her last driver’s test.

percent, per centum, %
One part in every hundred.

A quantity can be increased by any percentage but should not be decreased by more than 100 percent.

Once sales have been reduced by 100 percent, for example, it ceases to exist. In defiance of this logic, however, advertisers sometimes refer to a 150 percent decrease in new luggage prices or a new medication that increases energy by over 300 percent.

It is assumed that what is implied by the last example is that the new medicine is three times as effective as some other medicine, but such constructions are still considered to be etymologically incorrect because 100 percent is the
total amount of anything.

This entry is located in the following units: centi-, cent- (page 3) per- (page 3)
Word Entries at Get Words: “percent
percent
A quantity based on parts of 100; for example, 20 percent is equivalent to 20/100.
This entry is located in the following unit: Measurements and Mathematics Terms (page 8)