central

Forms

central m or f (plural centrais)^[1] Houaiss records central and centrâl in 1712.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin centrālis (“situated in the centre”), first recorded in Bluteau's dictionary of 1712.^[2][3][1] Wiktionary adds that by surface analysis it is centro with the suffix -al.^[1] The Latin adjective is formed from centrum with the suffix -ālis, and the OLD cites it from Pliny.^[4] The noun is from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “sharp point”), first the fixed leg of a pair of compasses and then the centre of a circle.^[4][5]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Spanish central, French central, Italian centrale and Galician central.^[6][1]

Semantic evolution

The word entered as a term of geometry and physics: Morais in 1789 defines it as “relating to the centre, in the centre” and records the forças centraes, centrifugal and centripetal.^[7] Morais 1813 adds eclipse central.^[8] Vieira extends it to places, província central, bairro central, and to government, administração central.^[9] The original Caldas Aulete contrasts poder central with local power and already has the feminine noun for a building where services are brought together.^[10] The 1975 Aurélio gives central elétrica as its example of the noun.^[11]

In 20th-century use the adjective took the figurative sense “main, essential”, and phonetics uses it for central vowels.^[2] The masculine noun is a footballer in the centre of the defence, a sense marked as Portuguese, and in Brazilian theatre a middle-aged actor who plays old people.^{[12][1][2][13]}

Timeline

• 1712 – first record, in Bluteau's dictionary.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais defines the adjective and records forças centraes.^[7]
• 1813 – Morais adds eclipse central.^[8] Cunha dates the word to this edition.^[3]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records província central, bairro central and administração central.^[9]
• 1899 – Figueiredo derives it from Latin centralis, from centrum.^[14]
• 1975 – the first Aurélio lists the feminine noun, as in central elétrica.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the centre (centro); situated in the centre of an area or a figure: O hotel fica numa rua central.^[2][15]
2. That directs or underlies the working of a system, as opposed to what is local or regional: governo central, sistema nervoso central.^[2][16]
3. (figurative) Main, fundamental, essential: a questão central do debate.^[2][15]
4. (phonetics) Articulated in the middle of the mouth, of a vowel (vogal).^[2][16]

Noun

1. (feminine) An installation for producing or distributing something, a plant or exchange: central elétrica, central telefónica.^[2][12]
2. (feminine) The headquarters of an organization; the place where its operations are run.^[1][17]
3. (masculine, Portugal, football) A centre-back.^[1][12]
4. (masculine, Brazil, theatre) A middle-aged actor who usually plays old people.^[2][13]

Word family

• centralizar
• centralidade
• centralismo
• centralização

Related words

• centro
• cêntrico
• Latin centrālis
• Spanish central

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. central
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. central
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es
7. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 254
8. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 373
9. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 169
10. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. central
11. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 330
12. ^ a b c Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. central
13. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. central
14. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 275
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. central
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1950
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. central