Century
late Middle English (in century (sense 3)): from Latin centuria, from centum ‘hundred’. century (sense 1) dates from the early 17th century.
wiktionary
From Middle English centurie(“a count of one hundred (of anything); a division of the Roman army; century; a division of land”), from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from centum(“one hundred”). The most common modern use is a shortening of century of years.
etymonline
century (n.)
1530s, "one hundred" (of anything), from Latin centuria "group of one hundred" of things of one kind (including a measure of land and a division of the Roman army, one-sixteenth of a legion, headed by a centurion), from centum "hundred" (see hundred) on analogy of decuria "a company of ten."
Used in Middle English from late 14c. as a division of land, from Roman use. The Modern English meaning "period of 100 years," reckoned from any starting point, is attested from 1650s, short for century of years (1620s). Latin centuria was not used in the sense "one hundred years," for which saeculum was the word (see secular). The older, general sense is preserved in the meaning "score of 100 points" in cricket and some other sports. The century-plant (American aloe), 1843, was believed to bloom only after a century of growth.
