hundred

hundred the number equivalent to the product of ten and ten; ten more than ninety.

In Anglo-Saxon England, a hundred was a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court.
Hundred Days the period of the restoration of Napoleon Bonaparte, after his escape from Elba, ending with his abdication on 22 June 1815; the immediate source was a speech delivered by Louis de Chabrol de Volvic, prefect of Paris, to Louis XVIII in 1815.
hundred-eyed in Greek mythology, the epithet of Argus.
Hundred Flowers a period of debate in China 1956–7, when, under the slogan ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend’, citizens were invited to voice their opinions of the communist regime. It was forcibly ended after social unrest and fierce criticism of the government, with those who had voiced their opinions being prosecuted.
Hundred Years War a war between France and England, conventionally dated 1337–1453. The war consisted of a series of conflicts in which successive English kings attempted to dominate France, and began when Edward III claimed the throne of France following the death of the last Capetian king. Despite a number of English military successes, most notably Crécy, Poitiers, and (in 1415) Agincourt, the English were unable to consolidate their advantages. Under the regency of Henry VI, control of conquered territory was gradually lost to French forces, revitalized in the first instance by Joan of Arc. With the exception of Calais, all English conquests had been lost by 1453.
hundredweight a unit of weight equal to one twentieth of an imperial or metric ton.