Century 5881 220439108 2008-06-19T21:33:59Z Oxymoron83 4414625 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/67.168.111.135|67.168.111.135]] ([[User talk:67.168.111.135|talk]]) to last version by 76.184.38.95 {{wiktionary|century}} {{otheruses}} {{redirect|Centennial}} {{redirect|Centenary}} A '''century''' (From the [[Latin]] ''cent'', one hundred) is [[one hundred]] consecutive [[year]]s. Centuries are numbered [[Names of numbers in English#Ordinal_numbers|ordinally]] (e.g. "The [[7th century|Seventh Century AD]]"). ==Start and End in the Gregorian Calendar== According to the [[Gregorian calendar]], the [[1st century]] AD started on [[January 1]], [[1]] and ended on [[December 31]], [[100]]. The [[2nd century]] started at year [[101]], the [[3rd century|third]] at [[201]], etc. The ''n''-th century will start on the year ''100×n - 99''. A century will only include one year, the centennial year, that starts with the century's number (e.g. [[1900|'''19'''00]] is in the [[19th century]]). ===End of the 20th century=== It is commonly-held misconception that the [[20th century]] ended on December 31, [[1999]]. The 20th century actually ended on December 31, [[2000]], its centennial year. ===1st Century AD and BC=== There is no "zeroth century" in between the [[1st century BC]] and the 1st century AD. The first century BC includes the years [[100 BC]] to [[1 BC]]. Other centuries BC follow the same pattern. ==Dating Systems before the Century== The oldest dating systems were based on the ''[[Regnal year|reigns of monarchs]]'', (e.g. the fifteenth year of King George). Similarly, other systems arose dating from the founding of a dynasty, city or religion. For example, [[Ab urbe condita]] counts the Year 1 as the founding of [[Rome]], ''[[Anno Domini]]'' as the first full year of Jesus Christ's life and the [[Islamic calendar]] counts in the year of the [[Hijra (Islam)|Hijra]]. The [[Gregorian calendar]] adopted ''Anno Domini'' as the basis for its numbering system. ==Centuries in Astronomical Year Numbering== [[Astronomical year numbering]], used by [[astronomers]]) includes a year zero. Consequently, the first century in these calendars may designate the years 0 to 99 as the first century. and to regard 2000 as the first year of the twenty-first century, the year 0 corresponding then to Georgian year 1 BC. ==References== "The Battle of the Centuries", Ruth Freitag, U.S. Government Printing Office. Available from the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250- 7954. Cite stock no. 030-001-00153-9. ==See also== * [[List of centuries]] {{Time measurement and standards}} [[Category:Centuries| ]] [[Category:Units of time]] [[af:Eeue]] [[ar:قرن (زمن)]] [[ast:Sieglu]] [[zh-min-nan:Sè-kí]] [[be:Стагоддзе]] [[bs:Vijek]] [[br:Kantved]] [[bg:Век]] [[ca:Segle]] [[cv:Ĕмĕр]] [[cs:Století]] [[da:Århundrede]] [[de:Jahrhundert]] [[et:Sajandid]] [[el:Αιώνας]] [[es:Siglo]] [[eo:Jarcento]] [[eu:Mende]] [[fa:قرن]] [[fr:Siècle]] [[fy:Ieu]] [[ga:Aois]] [[gl:Século]] [[ko:세기]] [[hr:Stoljeće]] [[id:Abad]] [[is:Öld]] [[it:Secolo]] [[he:מאה (זמן)]] [[jv:Abad]] [[kn:ಶತಮಾನ]] [[ka:საუკუნე]] [[sw:Karne]] [[ht:Syèk]] [[ku:Sedsal]] [[la:Saeculum]] [[lv:Gadsimts]] [[lt:Amžius]] [[ln:Bonkámá]] [[hu:Évszázad]] [[ms:Abad]] [[mn:Зуун]] [[nl:Eeuw]] [[ja:世紀]] [[no:Århundre]] [[nrm:Syiclle]] [[pl:Wiek]] [[pt:Século]] [[ro:Secol]] [[rmy:Shelbersh]] [[ru:Век]] [[scn:Sèculu]] [[simple:Century]] [[sk:Storočie]] [[sl:Stoletje]] [[sr:Век]] [[sh:Vijek]] [[su:Abad]] [[fi:Vuosisata]] [[sv:Sekel]] [[tl:Daang Taon]] [[ta:நூற்றாண்டு]] [[th:ศตวรรษ]] [[vi:Thế kỷ]] [[tg:Аср]] [[tr:Yüzyıl]] [[uk:Століття]] [[ur:ٹائم لائن]] [[fiu-vro:Aastagasada]] [[yo:Ọ̀rúndún]] [[zh-yue:世紀]] [[zh:世纪]]