The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

286 Chapter 9 Word Elements: Numbers and MeasuresWords to LearnPart 2cent-13. centennial (noun) sĕn-tĕnē-əlFrom Latin: cent- (hundred) ann (year)one-hundred-year anniversary; a period of one hundred yearsThe year 2008 marked the centennial of the first use ofnumbers on football jerseys.The Roman numeral C meant one hundred. Today, the cent sign—¢—and theabbreviation for century—C—remind us that the root cent means one hundred.14. centigrade (adjective) sĕntĭ-grādFrom Latin: cent- (hundred) gradus (step)referring to a temperature scale based on 100 degreesIn the centigrade scale, 0 degrees marks the freezing pointof water and 100 degrees marks its boiling point.The centigrade scale is also referred to as Celsius in honor of its originator, AndersCelsius. The Fahrenheit scale was named for its inventor, Daniel Fahrenheit. Thecentigrade scale is part of the metric system; the Fahrenheit scale is not.ambi-, amphi-15. ambiguous (adjective) ăm-bĭgy oo-əs —From Latin: ambi- (around) agere (to lead) (When somethingis ambiguous, two meanings are equally possible, and a personis led around rather than “straight toward” the meaning.)not clear; having two or more meaningsBecause of the ambiguous instructions, we could not tellexactly how to install the software. Related Wordambiguity (noun) (ămbĭ-gy — ooĭ-tē) (plural: ambiguities)When writing multiple-choice test items, try to avoidambiguities.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All Right Reserved.