Percentage refers to computing by hundredths. You often see numbers such as 2%, 30%, and 75%. The % symbol means percent. You read the numbers "2 percent" "30 percent," and "75 percent." Percent means hundredths: 2% means 2 hundredths, 30% means 30 hundredths, and 75% means 75 hundredths. Percentages are really common fractions: 2% is 2/100, 30% is 30/100, and 75% is 75/100. Percentages are also decimal fractions: 2% is .02, 30% is .30, and, 75% is .75. Suppose you want to find 25% of 60. You must find 25/100, or .25, of 60. The term percent is from two Latin words meaning by the hundreds.
We use percentage frequently in everyday life. Bankers use percentage to compute interest on savings and loans. Our taxes are percentages of income, prices, and other amounts. Scientists often show the results of their observations and experiments with percentages. In baseball, team standings and batting averages are based on percentages. On clothing labels, percentages often represent the amounts of different fibers that are in the garment.
For hundreds of years, the business world has used the term percent, and this custom has persisted to the present time. The custom may come from Roman taxes, which were often stated as 1/20, 1/25, 1/100, and so on. In the Middle Ages, merchants commonly used hundredths and percentages even before the appearance of the decimal number system (see Decimal system).
After the introduction of the decimal system, people no longer needed to use the term percent. It is just as easy to work with .25 as it is to work with 25%. However, percentage had become so deeply woven into business, professional, and everyday life that use of the term continued.
