[sen-taw-ree] 
| 1. | any of various plants belonging to the genus Centaurium, of the gentian family, having clusters of small pink or red flowers. |
| 2. | any of several other plants of the genera Centaurea and Sabatia. |
| cen·tau·ry (sěn'tôr'ē) n. pl. cen·tau·ries Any of several herbs of the genus Centaurium, especially a Eurasian species (C. erythraea) that has clusters of pink flowers and has long been used in herbal medicine. [Middle English, from Old English centaurie, from Latin centaurēum, from Greek kentaureion, from Kentauros, centaur (from the legend that the plant's medicinal properties were discovered by the centaur Chiron).] |