Zentrum German · revision 35627

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, Middle High German|origins=grc κεντέω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈt͡sɛntʁʊm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Zentrum''' ''n'' (genitive Zentrums, plural Zentren)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zentrum]], [[bor|la|centrum|t=centre of a circle]], from [[grc|κέντρον|tr=kéntron|t=goad, sting; point of a compass; centre]], from [[m|grc|κεντέω|tr=kentéō|t=to prick, sting]].^(Kluge 2011|1007)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|948) The point of the Greek word is the fixed leg of a pair of compasses, whose tip marks the centre of the circle drawn round it.^(Kluge 2011|1007)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge gives the 13th-century form as the adapted [[m|gmh|zenter]], which Pfeifer and the DFWB find only now and then in late Middle High German.^(Kluge 2011|1007)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB) Until the 19th century the word was mostly written and inflected as Latin, especially after prepositions.^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same word is [[nl|centrum]], [[en|centre]] and [[fr|centre]].^(Kluge 2011|1007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records, from about 1300, belong to geometry and mean the centre of a circle: a text of that time explains ''centrum'' as the very middle point.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) In this sense the word was used until the 19th century, as when Goethe writes of a point drawn ''im Centro''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the later 16th century the word meant the middle of a place or region, as in Paracelsus' ''auss dem Centro der erden'' “from the centre of the earth”, and at the same time, figuratively, a core or focus from which things start and to which they lead.^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) In Paracelsus the soul is the ''centrum'' of man, and in 1804 one wrote of the ''Zentrum'' of political power.^(DWB|31, 642)^(Paul 2002) The middle of an army in battle order was also its centre.^(DWB|31, 642)

+

+ As a party name ''Zentrum'' goes back to the members who sat in the middle of the chamber: the Grimms' dictionary dates it to the party of the middle of 1848 and to the Catholic party of the Reichstag of 1871, and Paul gives 1858, with refoundings in 1870 and 1945.^(DWB|31, 642)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) From the early 20th century it came to mean the middle of a large town, the ''Stadtzentrum'', while since the mid-20th century a facility where services of one kind are gathered, as in [[Einkaufszentrum]] and ''Sportzentrum'', competing with English-style ''Center''.^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Middle High German ''zenter'' is borrowed from Latin.^(Kluge 2011|1007)

+ * c. 1300 – ''centrum'' is explained as the very middle point of a circle.^(DFWB)

+ * Later 16th century – First use for the middle of a place, and figuratively for a focus.^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB)

+ * 1563 – Lautensack's book on compasses names the centre of a circle ''centrum''.^(DWB|31, 642)

+ * 1871 – ''Zentrum'' names the Catholic party in the Reichstag.^(DWB|31, 642)

+ * Early 20th century – First use for the centre of a city.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB)

+ * Mid-20th century – Compounds such as ''Einkaufszentrum'' spread.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|centre]], middle point: ''das Zentrum eines Kreises''; also figuratively, ''im Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit stehen'' “to be the centre of attention”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A central place from which things start and to which they lead, a [[m|en|hub]]: ''Die Stadt war ein Zentrum des Tuchhandels.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A facility serving a particular purpose, where certain services are gathered: ''ein Zentrum für Jugendliche''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The middle of a town, the town centre: ''Sie wohnt mitten im Zentrum.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(anatomy, physiology)'' A nerve centre, [[Nervenzentrum]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(history)'' The Centre Party, the party of political Catholicism in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chess)'' The centre squares of the board.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zentral]]

+ * [[zentrieren]]

+ * [[Einkaufszentrum]]

+ * [[Stadtzentrum]]

+ * [[Zentrale]]

+ * [[zentralisieren]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[konzentrieren]]

+ * [[Zentrifuge]]

+ * [[en|centre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}