C

Multiple Entries:
  C    c    carbon    hundred  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
C1 (also c)

▶noun (pl. Cs or C's)

• 1 the third letter of the alphabet.

• 2 denoting the third in a set of items, categories, sizes, etc.

• 3 Music the first note of the diatonic scale of C major, the major scale having no sharps or flats.

• 4 the Roman numeral for 100. [abbrev. of L. centum ‘hundred’.]

• 5 (C) a computer programming language originally developed for implementing the Unix operating system. [formerly known as B, abbrev. of BCPL.]

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
C2

▶abbreviation

• 1 (C.) Cape (chiefly on maps).

• 2 cargo (in designations of US aircraft types): a C-130.

• 3 Celsius or centigrade.

• 4 (in names of sports clubs) City.

• 5 (C.) Brit. Command Paper (second series, 1870–99).

• 6 (in Britain) Conservative.

• 7 (©) copyright.

• 8 Physics coulomb(s).

• 9 Cuba (international vehicle registration).

▶symbol

• 1 Physics capacitance.

• 2 the chemical element carbon.

– phrases
the Big C informal cancer.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
c

▶abbreviation

• 1 Cricket caught by.

• 2 cent(s).

• 3 centi-: cSt (centistokes).

• 4 (c.) century or centuries.

• 5 (preceding a date or amount) circa.

• 6 colt.

▶symbol Physics the speed of light in a vacuum: E = mc².

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
carbon/ˈkɑːbən/

▶noun

• 1 the chemical element of atomic number 6, a non-metal which has two main forms (diamond and graphite), occurs in impure form in charcoal, soot, and coal, and is present in all organic compounds. (Symbol: C)

• 2 carbon dioxide or other gaseous carbon compounds released into the atmosphere, associated with climate change. [as modifier] fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions continued to rise.

• 3 a rod of carbon in an arc lamp.

• 4 a piece of carbon paper, or a carbon copy.

– derivatives
carbonaceous adjective,
carbonless adjective.

– origin C18: from Fr. carbone, from L. carbo, carbon- ‘coal, charcoal’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
hundred/ˈhʌndrəd/

▶cardinal number (pl. hundreds or (with numeral or quantifying word) hundred)

• 1 (a/one hundred) the number equivalent to the product of ten and ten; ten more than ninety; 100. (Roman numeral: c or C)

• 2 (hundreds) informal an unspecified large number.

• 3 used to express whole hours in the twenty-four-hour system.

▶noun Brit. historical a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court.

– phrases
a (or one) hundred per cent entirely.

■ [usu. with neg.] informal completely fit and healthy.

■ informal maximum effort and commitment.

– derivatives
hundredfold adjective & adverb,
hundredth ordinal number.

– origin OE, from hund ‘hundred’ + a second element meaning ‘number’, of Gmc origin; the noun was perh. orig. equivalent to a hundred hides of land (see hide3).