In latin centi actually means 100. Proposed in 1793 and adopted in 1795 the prefix comes from the Latin centum meaning hundred cf. Metric Meanings Poster Math Measurement Next Generation Science Standards Metric 1100th of a meter is called a centimeter there are 100 centimeters in a meter 1100th of a liter is called a centiliter there are 100 centiliters in a liter Abbreviation is c. . The centi- part of the word here means hundredth as used in units of measure. In certain cases particularly in scientific usage it becomes convenient to provide. A prefix meaning one hundredth 1100. In the SI designations of multiples and subdivision of any unit may be arrived at by combining with the name of the unit the prefixes deka hecto and kilo meaning respectively 10 100 and 1000 and deci centi and milli meaning respectively one-tenth one-hundredth and one-thousandth. Proposed in 1793 and adopted in 1795 the prefix comes from the Lati