central

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsen.trəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French central or directly borrowed from Latin centrālis (“pertaining to a centre”),^[2][3][4] from centrum (“centre”),^[2][5] the source of centre.^[6][7] Barnhart and Etymonline note that an adverb centraly is recorded before 1425, which might imply an earlier use of the adjective.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pertaining to or being a centre: 1647,^[3][5][8] first used by the Cambridge Platonist Henry More.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The slightly older word was centric, from the 1580s.^[2] A city district in the heart of a town is central from 1675,^[8] and a controlling governing body from 1809.^[8] In politics, a party between the extremes is from 1860.^[8] The American colloquial noun central, a telephone exchange, is from 1889, hence “Hello, Central?”.^[2] Central America is from 1826 and central processing unit from 1961.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1425 – adverb centraly.^[3]
• 1647 – adjective (Henry More).^[3][8]
• 1675 – of a city district.^[8]
• 1809 – of a governing body.^[8]
• 1826 – Central America.^[2]
• 1889 – noun, a telephone exchange.^[2]
• 1961 – central processing unit.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Situated at or near the centre.
2. Of basic importance; essential or principal.
3. Having dominant power; controlling all parts of a system.
4. Easily reached from various points.

Noun

1. (US, dated) A telephone exchange or its operator.
2. An office that controls and coordinates related activities.

Word family

• centrally

Related words

• center
• centre
• centric
• centralize
• eccentric
• concentrate

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 f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press