centrum Latin · revision 3660

15 Oct 2026, 19:52 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Vitruvius|origins=grc κέντρον}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛn.trũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛn.trum]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''centrum''' ''n'' (genitive centrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|κέντρον|tr=kéntron|t=sharp point, goad]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)^(Saalfeld 1874) The Greek word was used of the fixed point of a pair of compasses, hence the centre of a circle.^(Etymonline)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ It is found in Vitruvius (c. 84–c. 25 BC), who uses it of the fixed leg of the compasses placed at a man's navel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It first meant the fixed leg of a pair of compasses.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this it meant the centre of a circle or sphere, of the earth or of the universe, as in Vitruvius and Pliny.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was also the vanishing point in perspective drawing, and the axis on which something turns.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ Pliny used it of a hard knot in wood or a flaw in crystal.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Medieval Latin it also meant the zenith or a point in the sky.^(Köbler 2010) English ''center'' came from it through Old French in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of compasses and centres.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of centres and of knots in wood.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''center'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The fixed leg of a pair of [[m|en|compasses]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # The [[m|en|center]] of a circle or sphere.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A [[m|en|vanishing point]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # An axis, pivot.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A knot (in wood), a hard spot.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|center]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}