per cent

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

per cent (especially BrE) (NAmE usually per·cent)BrE [pə ˈsent] NAmE [pər ˈsent] (symb. %)noun, adjective, adverb
noun (pl. per cent, per·cent)
one part in every hundred
• Poor families spend about 80 to 90 per cent of their income on food.
• It is often stated that we use only 10 per cent of our brain.
•What per cent of the population is/are overweight?

Word Origin:
mid 16th cent.: from ↑per + ↑cent, perhaps an abbreviation of pseudo-Latin per centum.

Grammar Point:
expressing percentages
Percentages (= numbers of per cent) are written in words as twenty-five per cent and in figures as 25%.
If a percentage is used with an uncountable or a singular noun the verb is generally singular: ▪ 90% of the land ▪ is ▪ cultivated.
If the noun is singular but represents a group of people, the verb is singular in NAmE but in BrE it may be singular or plural: ▪ Eighty per cent of the work force ▪ is/are ▪ against the strike.
If the noun is plural, the verb is plural: ▪ 65% of children ▪ play ▪ computer games.
 
adjective, adverb
by, in or for every hundred
•a 15 per cent rise in price
• House prices rose five per cent last year.

Word Origin:
[per cent] mid 16th cent.: from ↑per + ↑cent, perhaps an abbreviation of pseudo-Latin per centum.