central

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See also: Central

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis, from centrum (“centre”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), equivalent to centre +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛntɹəl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛntɹəl

Adjective

central (comparative more central, superlative most central)

  1. Being in the centre.
    • 1814, William Wordsworth, “The Parsonage”, in The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, volume V, London: Longman, published 1827, page 340:
      Egyption Thebes; / Tyre by the margin of the sounding waves; / Palmyra, central in the Desert, fell; / And the Arts died by which they had been raised.
    • 2013 July 27, “Putting down roots”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846:
      The plantoid […] will have a central stem containing a reservoir of liquid plastic of a sort that can be frozen by ultraviolet light. Half a dozen cylindrical roots will branch off this stem, and the plastic will flow through these from the reservoir to the tip. As in a real root, the tip will be a specialised structure.
  2. Having or containing the centre of something.
  3. Being very important, or key to something.
    Synonyms: dominant, main, principal
    • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
      Cleverley was a central figure as England took the lead inside three minutes. He saw his shot handled by Moldovan defender Simion Bulgaru and Lampard drilled home the penalty in trademark fashion.
    • 2020 May 6, Jim Steer, “Full Business Case offers fresh insight into HS2's prospects”, in Rail, page 51, photo caption:
      Passengers crowd in the main concourse at London Euston on January 28 2017, before boarding West Coast Main Line services. The urgent need to relieve congestion and improve reliability on the WCML remains central in the recently published Full Business Case for HS2.
  4. (anatomy) Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

central (plural centrals)

  1. (especially US) centre

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

central m or f (masculine and feminine plural centrals)

  1. central (being in the centre)

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

central f (plural centrals)

  1. nexus; headquarters (non-military); central office
  2. (electricity) power plant

Synonyms

  • seu (“seat or headquarters”)

Antonyms

Derived terms

types of central office
types of power plant

Further reading

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centralis.

Noun

central c (singular definite centralen, plural indefinite centraler)

  1. headquarters, place whence organizations are administrated

Declension

Declension of central
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative central centralen centraler centralerne
genitive centrals centralens centralers centralernes

Adjective

central

  1. central, being in the centre

Inflection

Inflection of central
Positive Comparative Superlative
Indefinte common singular central — —2
Indefinite neuter singular centralt — —2
Plural centrale — —2
Definite attributive1 centrale — —
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis. By surface analysis, centre +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

Adjective

central (feminine centrale, masculine plural centraux, feminine plural centrales)

  1. central
    Antonym: périphérique

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

  • Turkish: santral

Further reading

Anagrams

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais)

  1. central

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Languedocien)(file)

Adjective

central m (feminine singular centrala, masculine plural centrals, feminine plural centralas)

  1. central

Related terms

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

 

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
  • Hyphenation: cen‧tral

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais)

  1. central

Derived terms

Noun

central f (plural centrais)

  1. centre
  2. headquarters
  3. (Portugal, soccer) back (player in a position behind most players on the team)

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French central, Latin centrālis. By surface analysis, centru +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

Adjective

central m or n (feminine singular centrală, masculine plural centrali, feminine and neuter plural centrale)

  1. central, pivotal, nodal

Declension

Declension of central
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite central centrală centrali centrale
definite centralul centrala centralii centralele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite central centrale centrali centrale
definite centralului centralei centralelor centralilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /θenˈtɾal/
  • IPA(key): (Latin America) /senˈtɾal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: cen‧tral

Adjective

central m or f (masculine and feminine plural centrales)

  1. central

Derived terms

Noun

central f (plural centrales)

  1. headquarter
  2. center
  3. power station
    Synonym: centra eléctrica

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin centrālis, from centrum (“center point”) + -ālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

central

  1. central, centralized, situated at the centre (of a town)
  2. central, important
Declension
Inflection of central
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular central centralare centralast
Neuter singular centralt centralare centralast
Plural centrala centralare centralast
Masculine plural3 centrale centralare centralast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 centrale centralare centralaste
All centrala centralare centralaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic
Related terms

Etymology 2

Clipping of centralstation, or any other compound of the adjective.

Noun

central c

  1. a central, a centre, a central station, a junction, a connection point, an electrical switchboard
Declension
Declension of central 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative central centralen centraler centralerna
Genitive centrals centralens centralers centralernas
Related terms

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia