tëqind

Tëqind is an Albanian term that translates literally to “percent” or “percentage”. The word is composed of the preposition “për” (meaning “for” or “of”) combined with “qind”, which stems from the Latin “centum” meaning “hundred”. In everyday Albanian the expression “përqind” or simply “tëqind” is used to denote a part of a whole expressed in hundredths, just as the English expression “percent” does.

Historically, the concept of dividing a whole into hundred parts has been present in many cultures, and in Albanian the use of “tëqind” became common during the period of Ottoman administration, when Arabic and Persian terms interacted with the Latin-based counting systems that were being introduced into the region. The term was further standardized in the Albanian language during the early 20th century, when the modern language was codified and a standardized orthography was introduced.

In written and spoken Albanian the symbol % is almost always used in the same way as in other languages that employ percentages. In mathematical texts, textbooks, legal documents, and everyday commerce, “tëqind” appears frequently. A typical sentence might be “Oferta përloan 10 tëqind” meaning “The offer is 10 percent.” While “përqind” remains the more formal synonym, “tëqind” is often preferred in informal contexts.

The term is also found in compound expressions such as “tëqindërit” (the percentage) and in idiomatic phrases like “tëqind në jetë”, which means “percentage of life” and is used metaphorically in literature to refer to a liveliness or vigor.