subs. (turf).—A hundred pounds; or at cricket, etc., a score of a hundred. Originally a division of the Roman Army numbering 100 men. In English it was and is in common use to signify a group of a hundred. Shakespeare, in Cymbeline, iv. 2. 391 [1611], writes a ‘CENTURY’ of prayers. See also A. C. Swinburne, A Century of Rondels and W. E. Henley, A Century of Artists (1889). Cf., MONKEY, PONY, etc.
1864. Derby Day, p. 131. ‘I’m open to a bet. I’ll lay you an even CENTURY about Nimrod.’
1869. Daily News, July 29. ‘Police Court Report.’ After this he said he searched the breeches pockets that were lying by the side of the bed, and took HALF A CENTURY worth of property from them.
1883. Echo, Nov. 1, p. 4, col. 2. Golding,… purchased Passaic from F. Archer for a CENTURY.
1883. Graphic, August 11, p. 138, col. 2. His batting this year has been of the highest order, as witnesses among his many good performances that against the Players, when he marked his CENTURY.
