​CENT, or CENTIME (san-tēm), the name of a small coin in various countries, so called as being equal to a 100th part of some other coin. In the United States and in Canada the cent is the 100th part of a dollar. In France the centime is the 100th part of a franc. Similar coins are the centavo of Chili, and the centesimo of Italy, Peru, etc. Cents or centimes, and their equivalents, are written simply as decimals of the unit of value.