centrale Italian · revision 38736

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1385–1395, Francesco da Buti|origins=grc κέντρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡ʃenˈtra.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''centrale''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural centrali, superlative centralissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|centrālis|t=central]], a word of Pliny, from [[m|la|centrum|t=centre]] and the adjective suffix [[m|la|-ālis]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|13, 871)^(OLD 2012) Latin “centrum” was taken from [[grc|κέντρον|tr=kéntron|t=sharp point; centre]], the fixed point of a pair of compasses.^(Körting 1907)^(Devoto 1968) The Romance forms are all learned: [[fr|central]] (from 1503), [[pro|central]] (mid-14th century), [[ca|central]] (15th century), [[es|central]] (1802) and [[pt|central]] (1712).^(LEI|13, 871)

+

+ The noun “centrale” “head office, power station” is the adjective used on its own, short for “sede” or “officina centrale”.^(Treccani 2011) DEI compares [[fr|centrale]] and ties the sense “head office” to English and the sense “power station” to [[de|Zentrale]].^(DEI|856) Several derivatives came from French: [[centralità]] from [[fr|centralité]] (1792), [[centralizzare]] from [[fr|centraliser]] (1794), and [[centralismo]] from [[fr|centralisme]].^(LEI|13, 871)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Francesco da Buti's Pisan commentary on Dante (1385–1395), which speaks of the centre of the earth as ''lo punto centrale dell'universo'', “the central point of the universe”, the point farthest from the extremes.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(LEI|13, 871)^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the word to before 1406.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Leonardo (1515) used it in geometry, for lines that meet at the centre of the world.^(LEI|13, 871)^(GDLI) The sense “principal”, of an office or administration, is recorded from Monti (1803), and the sense “in the middle part of a territory” from Giusti's ''Italia centrale'' (1849).^(LEI|13, 871)^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo (1865) recorded the musical sense, of notes between the low and the high, and Pavese (1950) used it for “fundamental, essential”.^(LEI|13, 871)

+

+ As a feminine noun it meant a directing centre on which local branches depend from Imbriani (before 1886), and an installation producing and distributing goods or services from 1904, when Vannotti wrote of steam turbines in ''centrali elettriche''.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The ''imperi centrali'' were the German and Austro-Hungarian empires before the First World War.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1385–1395 – Francesco da Buti uses ''centrale''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1515 – Leonardo uses it in geometry.^(LEI|13, 871)

+ * 1792–1794 – French ''centralité'' and ''centraliser'' are coined, Italian later borrows them.^(LEI|13, 871)

+ * 1803 – Monti uses it in the sense “principal”.^(LEI|13, 871)

+ * 1849 – Giusti writes ''Italia centrale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1886 – The noun “directing centre” appears in Imbriani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1904 – ''Centrali elettriche'', power stations, are recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|central]], in or at the centre: ''Il tavolo occupa la parte centrale della sala.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In the centre of a town: ''Abitano in una via centrale.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # In the middle part of a territory: ''Europa centrale'', ''Italia centrale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a system or service, centralised: ''riscaldamento centrale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of an office or administration, [[m|en|main]], principal: ''la sede centrale della banca''; of power, exercised by national bodies: ''il governo centrale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Fundamental, essential: ''È la questione centrale del libro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(music)'' Of a note, between the low and the high.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' Of a vowel, articulated in the middle of the mouth.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(feminine)'' The head office, control centre of an organisation: ''la centrale di polizia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(feminine)'' A plant producing or distributing goods or services: ''centrale elettrica'', a [[m|en|power station]], ''centrale del latte''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sport)'' A player in a central position, such as a centre-back.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[centralina]]

+ * [[centralino]]

+ * [[centralmente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[centralista]]

+ * [[centralità]]

+ * [[centralizzare]]

+ * [[centro]]

+ * [[centralismo]]

+ * [[la|centralis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}