Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CENTESIMA, n. More fully centesima pars. Sc. Church Hist.: a contribution of a hundredth part of the stipend of each minister in a presbytery, called for to help in the education of promising young divinity students, probationers sent to mission stations, etc. The usage derives from the Centesima Fund raised by the Episcopalian ministers of the diocese of Edinburgh prior to 1688 for the relief of widows and orphans of the clergy. When the original beneficiaries died, the fund was transferred to relieve need among ministers in presbyteries in Lothian (see W. Mair Digest Ch. Law (1887) 315). [sɛn′tizɪmə]Sc. 1707 Acts. Gen. Assembly 13:
The General Assembly does . . . desire each Minister to advance a quarter of an years Centesima of their Stipend. Ayr. 1737 Ayr Presb. Reg. MS. (29 June):
The Presbytry agrees to give him a years centesima pars of their stipend.
[Lat. centesima (pars), ‘the hundredth part’.]
