Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ancient Rome, one of a body of 105 (called in round numbers 100) judges, 3 from each of the 35 tribes, appointed to decide common causes among the people.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rom. Hist.) One of a court of about one hundred judges chosen to try civil suits. Under the empire the court was increased to 180, and met usually in four sections.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical One of a court of about 100 judges chosen to try civil suits. Under the Empire the court was increased to 180, and met usually in four sections.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin, from centum hundred + vir man.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word centumvir.

Examples

  • He also spent some time in Sicily, and returned to Rome probably at the age of 23 or 24, where he allowed himself to be nominated _triumvir capitalis, decemvir litibus iudicandis_, and _centumvir_, in quick succession.

    The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius Charles Thomas Cruttwell 1879

  • He could not conceive how it happened that, in a former Congress, they had been so blind to the magic of numbers as to overlook the number 100, notwithstanding which one of that body signed himself centumvir, as one of the number of whom that council was composed.

    A biography of John Randolph, of Roanoke 1844

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.