centre
pronunciation
How to pronounce centre in British English:
UK [ˈsentə(r)]
How to pronounce centre in American English:
US [ˈsentər]
-
- Noun:
- an area that is approximately central within some larger region
- a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
- a place where some particular activity is concentrated
- the sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering
- a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process
- a building dedicated to a particular activity
-
- Verb:
- move into the center
- direct one's attention on something
Word Origin
- centre
- centre: [14] The word centre came originally from the spike of a pair of compasses which is stuck into a surface while the other arm describes a circle round it. Greek kéntron meant ‘sharp point’, or more specifically ‘goad for oxen’ (it was a derivative of the verb kentein ‘prick’), and hence was applied to a compass spike; and it was not long before this spread metaphorically to ‘mid-point of a circle’. The word reached English either via Old French centre or directly from Latin centrum. The derived adjective central is 16th-century.=> eccentric
- centre
- chiefly British English spelling of center (q.v.); for ending, see -re.
Example
- 1. Job seekers outside the foxconn centre in shenzhen .
- 2. In the centre was an oven and a table .
- 3. Appealing to the centre is not easy for mr obama .
- 4. However , most of the complaints centre on fracking .
- 5. He quickly becomes the centre of gravity .