What is "centner"

Centner \Cent"ner\, n. [Cf. G. centner a hundred-weight, fr. L. centenarius of a hundred, fr. centum a hundred.]

1. (Metal. & Assaying) A weight divisible first into a hundred parts, and then into smaller parts.

   Note: The metallurgists use a weight divided into a hundred equal parts, each one pound; the whole they call a centner: the pound is divided into thirty-two parts, or half ounces; the half ounce into two quarters; and each of these into two drams. But the assayers use different weights. With them a centner is one dram, to which the other parts are proportioned.

2. The commercial hundredweight in several of the continental countries, varying in different places from 100 to about 112 pounds.

n. A unit of weight with different actual definitions in parts of Germany and Scandinavia, typically 100 local pounds.

1. n. a unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms [syn: hundredweight, metric hundredweight, doppelzentner]

2. in some European countries: a unit of weight equivalent to 50 kilograms

3. a United States unit of weight equivalent to 100 pounds [syn: hundredweight, cwt, short hundredweight, cental, quintal]