κέντρον Ancient Greek · revision 15472

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *ḱent-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /kén.tron/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈcen.tron/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈcen.tron/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''κέντρον''' (kéntron) ''n'' (genitive κέντρου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*kéntron]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ḱéntrom]], from [[m|ine-pro|*ḱent-|t=to prick]];^(Wiktionary) within Greek it is [[m|grc|κεντέω|tr=kentéō|t=to sting, goad]] with the instrument suffix [[m|grc|-τρον|tr=-tron]].^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940) Beekes suggests it is a reshaping of [[m|grc|κέστρον|tr=késtron|t=pointed iron]] after [[m|grc|κεντέω|tr=kentéō]].^(Beekes 2010) It is directly cognate with [[sq|çandër|t=forked pole]] and probably [[xcl|սանտր|tr=santr|t=comb]].^(Wiktionary) Other languages have only isolated nouns from this root, such as [[goh|hantag|t=pointed]] and [[lv|sīts|t=hunting spear]];^(Beekes 2010) Celtic words such as [[br|kentr|t=spur]] were probably borrowed from Latin [[m|la|centrum]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it for a horse-goad: horses “running without the goad” (''Iliad'' 23.387).^(LSJ 1940)^(GLAUx)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After Homer it was also the ox-goad, used by Herodotus as an instrument of torture.^(LSJ 1940) The proverb “to kick against the goads” is in Aeschylus, Pindar, Euripides and the New Testament.^(CGL 2021) It was the sting of bees, wasps and scorpions (Aristophanes, Plato), and figuratively the sting of slander and suffering and the goad of love.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ Geometry took it from the fixed point of a pair of compasses: Plato and Aristotle use it for the centre of a circle, Euclid calls the radius “the line from the centre”, and Archimedes speaks of the centre of gravity.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary) Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|centrum]], and Sanskrit as [[m|sa|केन्द्र|tr=kendra]].^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) The medieval and modern form is [[el|κέντρο|tr=kéntro]].^(Kriaras)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for a horse-goad.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the ox-goad for torture.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the centre of a circle.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses it for the centre of gravity.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament has the proverb of kicking against the goads.^(CGL 2021)

+ * Modern Greek – ''κέντρο'' means centre.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|goad]] for horses or oxen; an instrument of torture.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|sting]] of a bee, wasp or scorpion; a quill, thorn.^(CGL 2021)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A goad, spur; a pang (of suffering, love).^(CGL 2021)

+ # Any sharp point, a spike; a nail.^(Wiktionary)

+ # The fixed point of a pair of [[m|en|compasses]];^(LSJ 1940) ''(geometry)'' the [[m|en|centre]] of a circle.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[κεντρικός|tr=kentrikós]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[κεντέω|tr=kentéō]]

+ * [[κεστός|tr=kestós]]

+ * [[la|centrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}