What is the history of percent?

Answer 1

The word percent comes from the Latin, per centium, literally 'of one hundred' and is an abbreviation in English of the French pour cent from when the Franks controlled Britain. The use of percentages, or similar standards in probability, has been seen in pre classical China, India, and Egypt, with is believed first appearance in India around 3500 BCE (date subject to debate)

Answer 2

In ancient Rome, long before the existence of the decimal system, computations were often made in fractions which were multiples of 1/100. For example Augustus levied a tax of 1/100 on goods sold at auction known as centesima rerum venalium. Computation with these fractions were similar to computing percentages. As denominations of money grew in the Middle Ages, computations with a denominator of 100 become more standard and from the late 15th century to the early 16th century it became common for arithmetic texts to include such computations. Many of these texts applied these methods to profit and loss, interest rates, and the Rule of Three. By the 17th century it was standard to quote interest rates in hundredths.[2]

The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the phrase per cento. The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived.[3]