Etymologically
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centralis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɛnˈtraː.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [t͡ʃenˈtraː.lis][1]

Forms

centrālis (neuter centrāle, adverb centrāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin centrum (“centre”) + -ālis.[2][3][4] centrum is borrowed from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “sharp point; centre of a circle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, calls the earth central.[3][5] Köbler dates him 23/24–79 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant placed at the centre, and was rare in Classical Latin.[2][3] Martianus Capella uses the neuter centrāle as a noun for the centre of a circle.[3]

Medieval writers used it of what lies in the middle, as the central sign in Albertus Magnus, and British writers also of what is internal.[7][8] English central is recorded in the 1640s.[4]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls the earth central.[3][6]
  • 1640s – English central is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Situated at the centre, central.[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Internal.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press