hundred-year-old

The compound adjective "hundred-year-old" is a modern English construction built from three native Germanic elements. "Hundred" originates from the Old English hundrēd, a compound itself from a base meaning "ten" and a term related to "count." "Year" derives from the Old English gēar, related to cycles of time and seasons. "Old" comes from the Common Germanic aldaz, conveying the concept of grown, adult, or aged. The logic of the word is transparently literal: it sequentially combines a specific quantity, the standard unit for measuring age or duration, and the state of being aged, to precisely denote something that has reached a century in age. This compounding follows a typical Germanic pattern for creating descriptive terms, where the elements retain their core meanings to form a clear, composite sense.

Structure: hundred (number) + year (time unit) + old (aged) - hundred: From Old English hundrēd, of Germanic origin, meaning the number 100. Functions as a numerical quantifier. - year: From Old English gēar, of Germanic origin, meaning a period of 365/366 days. Functions as a unit of time measurement. - old: From Old English ald, eald, of Germanic origin, meaning advanced in age. Functions as an adjective describing age or duration.