percentage

/pərˈsɛntɪdʒ/

/pəˈsɛntɪdʒ/

Other forms: percentages

A percentage is a portion of a whole expressed as a number between 0 and 100 rather than as a fraction. All of something is 100 percent, half of it is fifty percent, none of something is zero percent.

To determine a percentage, you divide the portion of the whole by the whole itself and multiply by 100. So if you just ate two pieces of an eight-piece pie, and you want to know what percentage of the pie you consumed, you'd first divide 2 by 8 which equals .25. Then multiply .25 times 100 and get 25 percent. A percentage can also mean a portion of something but only when it has to do with numbers. When you buy furniture, the salesman gets a percentage of what you spend.

Definitions of percentage

1. noun

   a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred)
   synonyms: pct, per centum, percent

   types:

   absentee rate

   the percentage of workers who do not report to work

   occupancy rate

   the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) are occupied or rented at a given time

   vacancy rate

   the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) that are unoccupied or not rented at a given time

   unemployment rate

   the percentage of the work force that is unemployed at any given date

   hospital occupancy

   occupancy rate for hospitals

   hotel occupancy

   occupancy rate for hotels

   type of:

   proportion

   the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
2. noun

   assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
   synonyms: part, portion, share

   types:

   tranche

   a portion of something (especially money)

   dispensation

   a share that has been dispensed or distributed

   dole

   a share of money or food or clothing that has been charitably given

   way

   a portion of something divided into shares

   ration

   a fixed portion that is allotted (especially in times of scarcity)

   allowance

   an amount allowed or granted (as during a given period)

   piece, slice

   a share of something

   split

   a promised or claimed share of loot or money

   interest, stake

   (law) a right or legal share of something; a financial involvement with something

   profit sharing

   a system in which employees receive a share of the net profits of the business

   cut

   a share of the profits

   allocation, allotment

   a share set aside for a specific purpose

   grubstake

   funds advanced to a prospector or to someone starting a business in return for a share of the profits

   controlling interest

   ownership of more than 50% of a corporation's voting shares

   insurable interest

   an interest in a person or thing that will support the issuance of an insurance policy; an interest in the survival of the insured or in the preservation of the thing that is insured

   vested interest

   (law) an interest in which there is a fixed right to present or future enjoyment and that can be conveyed to another

   security interest

   any interest in a property that secures the payment of an obligation

   terminable interest

   an interest in property that terminates under specific conditions

   undivided interest, undivided right

   the interest in property owned by tenants whereby each tenant has an equal right to enjoy the entire property

   fee

   an interest in land capable of being inherited

   rake-off, vigorish

   a percentage (of winnings or loot or profit) taken by an operator or gangster

   reallocation

   a share that has been allocated again

   quota

   a proportional share assigned to each participant

   privy purse

   allowance for a monarch's personal expenses

   equity

   the ownership interest of shareholders in a corporation

   reversion

   (law) an interest in an estate that reverts to the grantor (or his heirs) at the end of some period (e.g., the death of the grantee)

   right

   (frequently plural) the interest possessed by law or custom in some intangible thing

   type of:

   assets

   anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company