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central

[sen-truhl]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

of or forming the center: the central hut in the village.

in, at, or near the center: a central position.

constituting something from which other related things proceed or upon which they depend: a central office.

principal; chief; dominant: the play's central character.

Anatomy, Zoology.

of or pertaining to the central nervous system.

of or pertaining to the centrum of a vertebra.

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Phonetics. (of a speech sound) produced with the tongue articulating neither expressly forward nor in the back part of the mouth, as any of the sounds of lull.

Physics. (of a force) directed to or from a fixed point.

COLLAPSE

noun

(formerly)

a main telephone exchange.

a telephone operator at such an exchange.

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Central is always a great word to know.

So is pupil. Does it mean:

the expanding and contracting opening in the iris of the eye, through which light passes to the retina

one member of the first seven pairs of ribs that are attached in humans to the sternum

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Origin:
1640–50; < Latin centrālis, equivalent to centr(um) center + -ālis -al¹

Related forms

cen·tral·ly, adverb

Synonyms
4. major, main, key, leading, primary.

Example Sentences

All bear showy single or double summer flowers with ruffled petals surrounding a central cluster of stamens.

Often you hear central administrators note that the hardest job in the university is that of department head.

Grants for research on spinal-cord injuries and disorders of the central nervous system.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural cen·trals, Spanish cen·tra·les

[-trah-les] .

(in Spanish America and the Philippines) a mill for crushing cane into raw sugar.

Origin:
< American Spanish, special use of Spanish central central¹

noun

a region in central Scotland. 269,281. 1016 sq. mi. (2631 sq. km).

Link To Central

Collins

World English Dictionary

central (ˈsɛntrəl)

—*adj*
1.	in, at, of, from, containing, or forming the centre of something: the central street in a city; the central material of a golf ball
2.	main, principal, or chief; most important: the central cause of a problem
3.	a. of or relating to the central nervous system
	b. of or relating to the centrum of a vertebra
4.	of, relating to, or denoting a vowel articulated with the tongue held in an intermediate position halfway between the positions for back and front vowels, as for the a of English soda
5.	(of a force) directed from or towards a point
6.	informal (immediately postpositive) used to describe a place where a specified thing, quality, etc is to be found in abundance: nostalgia central

'centrally

—*adv*

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

central

1647, from L. centralis, from centrum (see center). As U.S. colloquial for "central telephone exchange" is first recorded 1889.