centro

Forms

centro m (plural centros)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin centrum (“the fixed leg of a pair of compasses; centre of a circle”), which is from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “goad, sharp point; centre of a circle”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word first named the stationary point of the compasses and then the middle point of the circle they draw.^[5][6] Vieira explained it the same way in 1871: the compass pricks the point round which the circumference is described.^[7]

The Greek noun is formed from κεντέω (kentéō, “to prick, sting”) with the instrument suffix -τρον (-tron), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to prick”).^[1][8] The Latin word also had popular descendants meaning “nail” in some Italian and Balkan dialects, recorded in the REW.^[9] The same Latin word gave Spanish centro.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the noun to the 15th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, and dates the sense “point to which people or things converge” to the same century.^[2] Cunha's own first date is 1572, moved back to 1532 in his addenda, which also give the spelling sentro in 1542.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the point in the middle of a circle or sphere from which all lines to the circumference are equal, and the point where reflected rays meet in curved figures.^[11] Morais (1789) adds the centre of gravity and of motion and, figuratively, the middle of a city and the heart or core of something.^[12] Figueiredo (1899) also has “depth, inner part” and “point to which things converge”.^[13]

Modern dictionaries record the town centre where business is done, the political centre between left and right, an association or club, a sports pass into the middle of the field, and in the theatre an actor who plays older characters.^{[2][4][14][15]} In Brazil a centro is also an Umbanda house of worship.^[1]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record, and first record of the sense “point of convergence”.^[2]
• 1532 – a record added in Cunha's addenda.^[3]
• 1542 – the spelling sentro.^[3]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it centrum.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the geometric definition and derives the word from Greek.^[11]
• 1720 – a private letter spells it sentro.^[17]
• 1789 – Morais adds the figurative “middle of the city” and “heart”.^[12]
• 1871 – Vieira derives it from Greek kentein “to prick”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) The centre, the point equally distant from all points of a circle or a sphere.^{[2][4][18][1]}
2. The middle of a surface or space: Há uma fonte no centro da praça.^[2][1]
3. The inner part, the depths: no centro da floresta.^[4][19]
4. A point to which people or things converge; a focus: ser o centro das atenções.^[2][4]
5. The central part of a town where shops and business are concentrated; downtown: Vou ao centro fazer compras.^[2][4][1]
6. A place or institution devoted to an activity: centro de saúde, centro cultural.^[2][15]
7. An association or club of people with common ideas or aims.^[2][15]
8. (politics) The position between left and right; the parties or members who hold it.^[2][15][14]
9. (sport) A cross, a pass of the ball into the middle of the field.^[2]
10. (military) The troops between the two wings of an army.^[2]
11. (theatre) An actor who plays older characters.^[2][14]
12. (Brazil, Umbanda) A house of worship.^[1]

Word family

• centrar
• centrão
• centrismo
• centrista
• centroavante
• centromédio
• concentrar
• concentração
• reconcentrar

Related words

• central
• concêntrico
• centrífugo
• centrípeto
• Latin centrum
• Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron)

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 l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. centro
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. centro
4. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. centro
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. centrum
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. centrum
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. κέντρον
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1815
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. centrum
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. centro
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 275
14. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. centro
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1952
16. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. centro
17. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. centro
18. ^ 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. centro
19. ^ 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. centro