The word derived from the Latin centimus [1] meaning "hundredth part".
The main Spanish currency, before the euro, was the peseta which was divided into 100 céntimos.
In the European community cent is the official name for one hundredth of a euro.
However, both céntimo (in Spanish) and cêntimo (in Portuguese) are commonly used to describe the euro cent.
Céntimo or cêntimo is one-hundredth of the following basic monetary units: