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centaur - 5 dictionary results
cen⋅taur
[sen-tawr] 
–noun
| 1. | Classical Mythology. one of a race of monsters having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse. |
| 2. | (initial capital letter ) Astronomy. the constellation Centaurus. |
| 3. | a skillful horseman or horsewoman. |
| 4. | (initial capital letter) Rocketry. a U.S. upper stage, with a restartable liquid-propellant engine, used with an Atlas or Titan booster to launch satellites and probes. |
Origin:
1325–75; ME, OE < L centaurus < Gk kéntauros
1325–75; ME, OE < L centaurus < Gk kéntauros
Related forms:
cen⋅tau⋅ri⋅al, cen⋅tau⋅ri⋅an, cen⋅tau⋅ric, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To centaur
| cen·taur (sěn'tôr') n. Greek Mythology One of a race of monsters having the head, arms, and trunk of a man and the body and legs of a horse. [Middle English, from Latin Centaurus, from Greek Kentauros.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Centaur
Cen"taur\, n. [L. centaurus, Gr. ?.]1. (Class. Myth.) A fabulous being, represented as half man and half horse. 2. (Astron.) A constellation in the southern heavens between Hydra and the Southern Cross.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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centaur
c.1375, from L. centaurus, from Gk. Kentauros, origin disputed. In early Gk. literature they were a savage, horse-riding tribe from Thessaly.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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| Centaur (sěn'tôr') Pronunciation Key
Any of a group of icy bodies similar to both asteroids and comets, orbiting the Sun in elliptical paths mostly in the region between Saturn and Neptune. Centaurs range in diameter from around 100 to 400 km (62 to 248 mi) and are believed to be Kuiper belt objects that have escaped into the vicinity of the gas-giant planets. Centaurs are considered to have unstable orbits, and gravitational encounters with the large outer planets could send them into the inner solar system or alternatively could eject them from the solar system into interstellar space. Chiron, the first such body to be classified as a Centaur, was discovered in 1977. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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