center

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The middle part or point of something.

   The fountain stands in the center of the town square.

2. 2
   noun

   A building or place where a particular activity happens.

   They are raising money to build a new center for research.

3. 3
   noun

   The person or thing that everyone's attention focuses on.

   Their stories made them the center of the party.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Centre ultimately derives from Greek kentron, meaning a “sharp point,” specifically the point on a pair of compasses. Because this point marks the centre of a circle, descendants of kentron came to denote the circle’s centre. Center is the older English spelling and appears in Shakespeare’s works; Dr Johnson’s dictionary established centre as the preferred British spelling in 1755.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱent-der. Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron)der. Latin centrumder. Middle French centrebor. Middle English center English center From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum. * (group theory): In the notation Z(G), the letter Z derives from the German Zentrum (“center”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary