cen·tu·ry / ˈsench(ə)rē/ • n. (pl. -ries) 1. a period of one hundred years: a century ago most people walked to work. ∎  a period of one hundred years reckoned from the traditional date of the birth of Jesus Christ: the fifteenth century| [as adj. , in combination] (-century) a twentieth-century lifestyle. 2. a group of one hundred things.3. a company in the ancient Roman army, originally of one hundred men. ∎  an ancient Roman political division for voting.4. a bicycle race of one hundred miles: [as adj.] the nation's largest single-day century ride. ∎  a score of one hundred in a sporting event.DERIVATIVES: cen·tu·ri·al / senˈt(y)oŏrēəl/ adj.

Century ★★ 1994 (R)

Ambitious young doctor Paul Reisner (Owen), the son of a prosperous Jewish father (Stephens), gets a position at a London research hospital headed by the charismatic Professor Mandry (Dance). Paul manages to disgrace himself by provoking Mandry and is dismissed but finds out some disturbing information and is determined to discredit his former mentor. Anti-Semitism lurks as does the change from Victorian mores to the challenging dawn of the 20th century. Complex performances are somewhat undermined by the static direction. 112m/C VHS . GB Clive Owen, Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, Robert Stephens, Joan Hickson, Lena Headey, Neil Stuke; D: Stephen Poliakoff; W: Stephen Poliakoff; C: Witold Stok; M: Michael Gibbs.

century group of 100 XVI; 100 years XVII. — L. centuria assemblage of 100 things, division of the Roman army (orig. 100 horsemen), f. centum HUNDRED; see -Y 3.
So centurion commander of a century. XIV.

Century

a group of a hundred things; a period of one hundred years; a body of one hundred men or troops.

Examples: century of copies, 1867; of sultrying passions, 1598; of prayers, 1611; of sonnets, 1855; of troops; of words, 1737; of years.