centro

Forms

centro m (plural centri)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin centrum (“point of the compasses; centre”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “goad, sting; point of the compasses; centre of a circle”).^[2][3][4][1] The Greek noun belongs to κεντέω (kentéō, “to prick”).^[5] Vitruvius is the first to use “centrum” in the geometrical sense, and in this learned form it entered the Romance languages: French centre (about 1275, in the “Roman de la Rose”), Catalan centre, Spanish centro (1254–1260, Alfonso X) and Portuguese centro.^[6][3]

Several derivatives came through other languages: centralizzare and centralizzazione are French centraliser and centralisation (1790), centravanti and centromediano are calques of English centre-forward and centre-half (1891), and centrifugo and centripeto probably came through centrifuge and centripète (1700) from Newton's Latin coinages of 1687.^[2] Eccentrico continues Medieval Latin eccentricus (Albertus Magnus, 1247–1249).^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo's Composizione del mondo of 1282, in the geometrical sense, the point inside a circle or sphere at the same distance from every point of its edge.^[7] DELI dates the wider “midpoint, innermost part” to Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, and the sphere's centre to Giordano da Pisa in 1304.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante describes water moving dal centro al cerchio, e sì dal cerchio al centro (from the centre to the rim and, from the rim to the centre) in a round vessel,^[8] and in medieval cosmology the centre was the point that heavy bodies tend towards, the centre of the earth.^[7] Old Italian already used it figuratively for the most important part of something and for a settlement.^[7]

From the late 18th century the word spread to the city and to politics: the busiest part of a town before 1803 in Alfieri, an inhabited place in 1839 in Carlo Cattaneo, a body of moderate opinion in 1845, an anatomical centre (centro nervoso) in 1839, a research institute in 1919, and in football the middle of the forward line in 1942.^[2][5] Modern compounds such as centro commerciale, centrodestra and centrosinistra follow these senses.^[1]

Timeline

• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses centro in geometry.^[7]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo, “innermost part”.^[2]
• 1304 – Giordano da Pisa, centre of a sphere.^[2]
• Before 1803 – Alfieri, the centre of a city.^[2]
• 1845 – A moderate political grouping, in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1919 – A centre for study or treatment, at Parma.^[2]
• 1942 – The centre of the forward line in football.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) The centre of a circle or sphere, the point at the same distance from every point of the circumference or surface; the centre of symmetry of a figure.^{[4][9][10][1]}
2. The middle or innermost part of something: Al centro della piazza c'è una statua.^[4][11][1]
3. The central part of a territory, especially of Italy: il Centro Italia.^[4][11]
4. The centre of a town, where the main buildings, shops and offices are, centro storico, the old town: Abitiamo a due passi dal centro.^[4][12][1]
5. (politics) The parties and deputies between right and left; a moderate tendency.^[4][12][11]
6. (figurative) The core, the most important part of something: il centro della questione.^[4][11][1]
7. An inhabited place; a place where some activity is concentrated: un piccolo centro di montagna, centro industriale.^[11][10][13]
8. An institution or facility for a particular service or research: centro di ricerca, centro commerciale “shopping centre”.^[2][4][1]
9. (anatomy) A part of the nervous system that controls a function.^[2][4]
10. (sport) The middle of the field or of a line of players; in basketball, the centre.^[2][14]

Word family

• centrale
• centralino
• centralità
• centralismo
• centralizzare
• centrare
• centrino
• centrismo
• centrista
• centravanti
• centrattacco
• centrifuga
• centrifugo
• centripeto
• accentrare
• concentrare
• decentrare
• epicentro
• eccentrico
• centrodestra
• centrosinistra
• centro commerciale

Related words

• Latin centrum
• French centre

Usage notes

The standard pronunciation has open /ɛ/; the regional /e/ may be due to the influence of entrare.^[1][13] DEI and the LEI record a second, inherited centro in southern and Dalmatian dialects, “goad; nail”, also “cock's comb”, from the same Latin word in its older sense “spur, sting”: Calabrian centra “ox goad”, Abruzzese cendrone “big nail”.^[5][6][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 857
6. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 873
7. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
15. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter