'percent' originates from Latin, specifically the phrase 'per centum,' where 'per' meant 'by' and 'centum' meant 'hundred.'

'per centum' transformed into the Old French phrase 'pour cent,' and eventually became the modern English word 'percent' through Middle English.

Initially, it meant 'by the hundred,' but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a part of a whole expressed as a fraction of 100.'