century
PronouncedSEHN-cher-ee
nounA period of one hundred years.
nounA group of about sixty to eighty soldiers in the ancient Roman army, led by a centurion.
nounA hundred runs scored by one player in a single cricket innings.
nounA race that is one hundred metres, kilometres or miles long.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
When C comes before the letters E, I, or Y, it makes the soft /s/ sound instead of the hard /k/ sound. This is called 'Soft C'.
Tip
C is soft before E, I, Y — the city is nice!
Examples
When the letter E appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short E sound “eh”. This is often confused with short I by new readers.
Tip
E says “eh” like an egg on your head.
Examples
Phonics Rule: NT End Blend
Sound“nt”·/nt/
NT at the end of a syllable blends /n/ and /t/ together, like in 'tent', 'mint', and 'want'.
NT is a very common end blend. The nasal /n/ flows into the stop /t/. In fast speech the /t/ is sometimes barely voiced, but both sounds are present.
Tip
NT tents up at the end — tent, mint, hunt!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled UR
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after U, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'turn' and 'burn'.
UR makes the same “er” sound as ER and IR. It's the least common of the three spellings.
Tip
The nurse with fur says “er”!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Y as Long E
Sound“ee”·/iː/
When Y is at the end of a longer word, it says long E, like in 'happy' and 'funny'.
When Y appears at the end of a multi-syllable word, it makes the long E sound “ee”. Very common in adjectives (happy, funny, silly) and nouns (baby, candy).
Tip
Y at the end of a long word says EEE — happy, funny, baby!
Examples
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