a monetary unit of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units
2.
a former monetary unit of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Portugal, worth one hundredth of their former standard units
Word origin
Spanish: one hundredth part
centavo in American English
(sɛnˈtɑvoʊ)
nounWord forms: pluralcenˈtavos
a monetary unit of various countries, equal to 1⁄100 of the basic unit