noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
pər-sĕnʹ-tīl
/pəɹˈsɛn.taɪl/
US:/pɚˈsɛn.taɪl/
UK:/pəˈsɛn.taɪl/
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛntaɪl
CMU ARPABET:P ER0 S EH1 N T AY2 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any one of the hundred groups so divided.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics
Examples
She is highly intelligent—she has an IQ in the top percentile.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
(statistics) any of the 99 numbered points that divide an ordered set of scores into 100 parts each of which contains one-hundredth of the total
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: centile
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: mark, grade, score
History
Etymology
Coined by Francis Galton in 1885, from percent + -ile.
Across languages
Translations
30 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Czech:
procentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Danish:
percentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Estonian:
protsentiil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Finnish:
persentiili
— any of the ninety-nine points
German:
Perzentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Indonesian:
persentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Indonesian:
presentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Italian:
percentile
— any of the ninety-nine points
Macedonian:
перцентил
(percentil)
— any of the ninety-nine points
Portuguese:
percentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Russian:
перцентиль
(percentilʹ)
— any of the ninety-nine points
Russian:
центиль
(centilʹ)
— any of the ninety-nine points
Russian:
процентиль
(procentilʹ)
— any of the ninety-nine points
Spanish:
percentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Swedish:
percentil
— any of the ninety-nine points
Tagalog:
kabahagdanin
— any of the ninety-nine points
Czech:
procentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Danish:
percentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Estonian:
protsentiil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Finnish:
persentiili
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
German:
Perzentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Indonesian:
persentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Indonesian:
presentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Italian:
percentile
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Portuguese:
percentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Russian:
перцентиль
(percentilʹ)
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Russian:
центиль
(centilʹ)
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Russian:
процентиль
(procentilʹ)
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Swedish:
percentil
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
Tagalog:
kabahagdanin
— any one of the hundred groups so divided
