cientos

Cientos is a Spanish numeral that primarily denotes a large quantity around the hundreds. It can function as a determiner meaning hundreds of, as in hundreds of people, or as a noun referring to a large, approximate number. In standard number formation, cientos is distinct from cien and ciento, and its use depends on context.

Etymology and related forms: Cientos comes from ciento, which ultimately derives from Latin centum meaning one hundred. Cien is the form used for the exact hundred when it stands alone or before a noun, while ciento appears in compound numbers from 101 to 199 (for example, ciento uno, ciento cincuenta). For multiples of a hundred beyond the hundreds, Spanish uses doscientos, trescientos, and so on. The plural cientos appears mainly in expressions meaning “hundreds (of)” rather than as a direct cardinal in a pure number.

Usage in numbers: In counting, 101 is typically ciento uno, 150 is ciento cincuenta, and 199 is ciento noventa y nueve. From 200 onward the regular forms are used, such as doscientos, trescientos, cuatrocientos, etc. Cientos can also appear as a non-numeric quantifier: hubo cientos de personas; se gastaron cientos de kilómetros en el viaje. In these cases, it functions similarly to “hundreds” in English.

Distinctions and related terms: Cien is used for exactly 100 or before a noun, and ciento is used within 101–199. The term centena or decena are related concepts describing groups of one hundred or ten, respectively, and mil denotes one thousand. See also cientos de miles or cientos de millones in contexts describing large but imprecise counts.

Cientos thus covers both a precise numeric range in combination numbers and an approximate plural quantity in everyday language.