Etymologically
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center

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈsen.tə/, US /ˈsen.t̬ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English centre, borrowed from Old French centre,[2][3][4] a learned borrowing from Latin centrum,[2][3] originally the fixed point of a drafting compass,[3] from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “sharp point, goad; stationary point of a compass; centre of a circle”),[2][3][5] from κεντέω (kentéō, “to prick, goad”).[3][5][4] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kent- (“to prick”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The middle point of a circle, the point round which something revolves: about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius,[2] or the late 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

The middle of anything is from the 1590s,[3] and figuratively a point of concentration, as of power, from the 1680s.[3] Centre of gravity is from the 1650s.[3] In politics, representatives of moderate views between left and right are the centre from 1837, first of France.[3] Centre of attention is from 1868.[3] The verb meant “to concentrate at a centre” from the 1590s[3] or 1590,[6] and “to rest as at a centre” from the 1620s.[3] To be centered on is from 1713, and -centered in compounds by 1958.[3] The sports sense, “to hit toward the centre”, is from 1890.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – the centre of a circle (Chaucer).[2]
  • 1590s – the middle of anything; verb, to concentrate.[3]
  • 1650s – centre of gravity.[3]
  • 1680s – a point of concentration.[3]
  • 1713 – centered on.[3]
  • 1837 – the political centre.[3]
  • 1868 – centre of attention.[3]
  • 1890 – verb, in sport.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A point or place equally distant from the sides or boundaries; the middle.
  2. (geometry) A point equally distant from all points of a circle or sphere.
  3. A point round which something turns.
  4. A place where an activity is concentrated: a shopping center.
  5. A person or thing that is the focus of attention.
  6. (politics) Moderate parties or views.
  7. (sports) A player in the middle position.

Verb

  1. To place in or at the center.
  2. To direct toward a center; to focus.
  3. To be concentrated; to have as a main theme.

Word family

  • centerless
  • centerable

Usage notes

Etymonline notes that the spelling centre was popularized in Britain by Johnson's dictionary, following Bailey's, though center is older and was used by Shakespeare, Milton and Pope.[3] The American Heritage Dictionary notes that center around has been condemned as illogical, though writers persist in using it, while center on, upon, in and at are freely accepted;[7] it also compares center with focus, headquarters, heart, hub and seat.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin