centro Italian · revision 38083

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1282, Restoro d'Arezzo|origins=grc κεντέω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Tuscany: /ˈt͡ʃɛn.tro/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Regional: /ˈt͡ʃen.tro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''centro''' ''m'' (plural centri)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|centrum|t=point of the compasses; centre]], [[der|grc|κέντρον|tr=kéntron|t=goad, sting; point of the compasses; centre of a circle]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek noun belongs to [[m|grc|κεντέω|tr=kentéō|t=to prick]].^(DEI|857) Vitruvius is the first to use “centrum” in the geometrical sense, and in this learned form it entered the Romance languages: [[fr|centre]] (about 1275, in the “Roman de la Rose”), [[ca|centre]], [[es|centro]] (1254–1260, Alfonso X) and [[pt|centro]].^(LEI|13, 873)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Several derivatives came through other languages: [[centralizzare]] and [[centralizzazione]] are [[fr|centraliser]] and [[m|fr|centralisation]] (1790), [[centravanti]] and [[centromediano]] are calques of [[en|centre-forward]] and [[m|en|centre-half]] (1891), and [[centrifugo]] and [[centripeto]] probably came through [[m|fr|centrifuge]] and [[m|fr|centripète]] (1700) from Newton's Latin coinages of 1687.^(DELI 1999) [[eccentrico|alt=Eccentrico]] continues [[la-med|eccentricus]] (Albertus Magnus, 1247–1249).^(LEI|13, 873)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo's ''Composizione del mondo'' of 1282, in the geometrical sense, the point inside a circle or sphere at the same distance from every point of its edge.^(TLIO) DELI dates the wider “midpoint, innermost part” to Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, and the sphere's centre to Giordano da Pisa in 1304.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante describes water moving ''dal centro al cerchio, e sì dal cerchio al centro'' (from the centre to the rim and, from the rim to the centre) in a round vessel,^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) and in medieval cosmology the centre was the point that heavy bodies tend towards, the centre of the earth.^(TLIO) Old Italian already used it figuratively for the most important part of something and for a settlement.^(TLIO)

+

+ From the late 18th century the word spread to the city and to politics: the busiest part of a town before 1803 in Alfieri, an inhabited place in 1839 in Carlo Cattaneo, a body of moderate opinion in 1845, an anatomical centre (''centro nervoso'') in 1839, a research institute in 1919, and in football the middle of the forward line in 1942.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|857) Modern compounds such as ''centro commerciale'', ''centrodestra'' and ''centrosinistra'' follow these senses.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses ''centro'' in geometry.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo, “innermost part”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304 – Giordano da Pisa, centre of a sphere.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1803 – Alfieri, the centre of a city.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1845 – A moderate political grouping, in the Milanese press.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1919 – A centre for study or treatment, at Parma.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – The centre of the forward line in football.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' The [[m|en|centre]] of a circle or sphere, the point at the same distance from every point of the circumference or surface; the centre of symmetry of a figure.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The middle or innermost part of something: ''Al centro della piazza c'è una statua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The central part of a territory, especially of Italy: ''il Centro Italia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The centre of a town, where the main buildings, shops and offices are, ''centro storico'', the old town: ''Abitiamo a due passi dal centro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(politics)'' The parties and deputies between right and left; a moderate tendency.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The core, the most important part of something: ''il centro della questione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An inhabited place; a place where some activity is concentrated: ''un piccolo centro di montagna'', ''centro industriale''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # An institution or facility for a particular service or research: ''centro di ricerca'', ''centro commerciale'' “shopping centre”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A part of the nervous system that controls a function.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(sport)'' The middle of the field or of a line of players; in basketball, the centre.^(DELI 1999)^(Wikizionario)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[centrale]]

+ * [[centralino]]

+ * [[centralità]]

+ * [[centralismo]]

+ * [[centralizzare]]

+ * [[centrare]]

+ * [[centrino]]

+ * [[centrismo]]

+ * [[centrista]]

+ * [[centravanti]]

+ * [[centrattacco]]

+ * [[centrifuga]]

+ * [[centrifugo]]

+ * [[centripeto]]

+ * [[accentrare]]

+ * [[concentrare]]

+ * [[decentrare]]

+ * [[epicentro]]

+ * [[eccentrico]]

+ * [[centrodestra]]

+ * [[centrosinistra]]

+ * [[centro commerciale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|centrum]]

+ * [[fr|centre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The standard pronunciation has open /ɛ/; the regional /e/ may be due to the influence of ''entrare''.^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020) DEI and the LEI record a second, inherited ''centro'' in southern and Dalmatian dialects, “goad; nail”, also “cock's comb”, from the same Latin word in its older sense “spur, sting”: Calabrian ''centra'' “ox goad”, Abruzzese ''cendrone'' “big nail”.^(DEI|857)^(LEI|13, 873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}