siglo

Siglo is a Spanish noun that designates a period of 100 years, i.e., a century. It is used to mark calendars, describe historical eras, and discuss long spans of time. In notation, centuries are often written with Roman numerals, as in siglo XX or siglo XXI. The term can also refer to a broad era within a culture, sometimes used loosely to denote a long period of significance.

Etymology and grammatical notes: Siglo comes from Latin saeculum, via Old Spanish. It is a masculine noun (el siglo) and has the plural siglos. The word has cognates in other Romance languages, such as siècle in French, secolo in Italian, and século/século in Portuguese and Galician.

Usage and cultural significance: In historical and cultural discussions, siglos are used to segment time and contextualize events. A well-known expression is Siglo de Oro or Golden Century, referring to roughly the 16th and 17th centuries in Spain when arts, literature, and science flourished. Other phrases place events within a specific century, such as el siglo XVI or en este siglo, to indicate the present era.

See also: Century terms in other languages, historical periods by century, and common Spanish date notations. Siglo remains a standard, neutral term in Spanish for denoting long spans of time and the traditional way of organizing history and chronology.