zentral

Forms

zentral (strong nominative masculine singular zentraler, comparative zentraler, superlative am zentralsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German Zentrum + -al after the model of Latin centrālis (“situated in the middle”).^[1][2][3] Pfeifer and the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch also compare the older French central.^[3][4] The noun was borrowed in Middle High German, first as zenter, from Latin centrum (“fixed point of a pair of compasses, centre of a circle”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “goad, sting; point of compasses”), from κεντέω (kentéō, “to prick”).^[5][3][2] The image is the point of the compasses that stays fixed and marks the centre of the circle drawn round it.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective appeared in the early 17th century in the form zentralisch, first in geometry: a text of 1626 speaks of the “centralischen spitz”, the point of the compasses that stays at the centre.^[4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word lived only as the first part of compounds: Centralwesen (second half of the 17th century), Centralwinckel (first half of the 18th), Centralkraft and Centralposition (second half of the 18th).^[3][4] From the early 19th century it took the sense “chief, superior, directing” in politics and administration, as in Centraloberbehörde and later Zentralnervensystem, and by the end of the century “important, decisive”, as in Zentralfigur (about 1900).^[3][4] As an adjective of its own, in front of nouns and as an adverb, zentral has been used since the middle of the 19th century.^[3][2][4]

From the adjective came Zentrale (second half of the 19th century); zentralisieren and Zentralisation were borrowed in the early 19th century from the French terms coined in 1794, in the wake of Napoleon's administrative reforms.^[3]

Timeline

• 1626 – First record, as zentralisch, in geometry.^[4]
• 2nd half of the 17th century – Centralwesen, the first compound.^[3]
• Early 19th century – The sense “chief, directing” appears in administrative compounds;^[3] zentralisieren is borrowed from French.^[3]
• Mid-19th century – zentral is used as an independent adjective and adverb.^[3]
• c. 1900 – Zentralfigur shows the sense “important, decisive”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Situated in the centre; centrally located: Das Hotel liegt sehr zentral.^[6][1]
2. Forming the centre or midpoint of something.^[6][4]
3. Of central importance, decisive, determining everything else: eine zentrale Frage dieser Studie.^[6]
4. Coming from or acting as a superior, directing authority: eine zentrale Verwaltung, das zentrale Nervensystem.^[6][4]

Adverb

1. centrally: in the centre, or from a central authority: Die Daten werden zentral gespeichert.^[6][1]

Word family

• Zentrale
• zentralisieren
• Zentralismus

Related words

• Zentrum
• konzentrieren
• Zentrifuge
• English central

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 1007
6. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag