Centime

Centime (from Latin "centesimus") is French for "cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland, Algeria, Belgium, Morocco and France).

In France the usage of "centime" goes back to the introduction of the decimal monetary system under Napoleon. This system aimed at replacing non-decimal fractions of older coins. A five-centime coin was known as a "sou", i.e. a solidus or shilling.

Conversely in Quebec, 1/100 of a Canadian dollar is called "sou" (penny).

ubdivision of euro: cent or centime?

In the European community "cent" is the official name for 1/100 of a euro. However, in French-speaking countries the word "centime" is the one preferentially used. Indeed, the Superior Council of the French language of Belgium recommends in 2001 the use of "centime", since the French word "cent" has two meanings ("cent" and "hundred"). An analogous decision is published in Journal officiel in France ( December 2, 1997).

In Morocco, dirhams are divided into 100 "centime"s and one may find prices in the country quoted in "centime"s rather than in dirhams. Sometimes "centime"s are known as francs or in former Spanish areas, pesetas.

Usage

Centime is one hundredth of the following basic monetary units:

Current

* Algerian dinar
* Burundian franc
* CFP franc
* CFA franc
* Comorian franc
* Congolese franc
* Djiboutian franc
* Ethiopian birr (as santim)
* Guinean franc
* Haitian gourde
* Latvian lats (Latvian: santīms)
* Moroccan dirham
* Rwandan franc
* Swiss franc (by French speakers only, see Rappen)

Obsolete

* Algerian franc
* Belgian franc
* Cambodian franc
* French Camerounian franc
* French Guianan franc
* French franc
* Guadeloupe franc
* Katangan franc
* Luxembourgish franc
* Malagasy franc
* Malian franc
* Martinique franc
* Monegasque franc
* Moroccan franc
* New Hebrides franc
* Réunion franc
* Spanish Peseta
* Tunisian franc
* Westphalian frank
* Polska frank