A monetary unit worth one hundredth of the basic currency unit in various Latin American and Spanish-speaking countries.
Spanish 'centavo' from 'ciento' (hundred), derived from Latin 'centum' (hundred). The term parallels English 'cent' and French 'centime,' all built on the base-100 system for dividing currency.
The centavo's name reveals how Spain exported not just coins but an entire mathematical system—the base-100 currency division became so standard across the Spanish-speaking world that it's now harder to remember that other numbering systems ever existed.
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