epicentre
Britishnoun
-
the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake or underground nuclear explosion Compare focus
-
informal the absolute centre of something
the epicentre of world sprinting
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of epicentre
C19: from New Latin epicentrum, from Greek epikentros over the centre, from epi- + kentron needle; see centre
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
General Santos, the city near the quake's epicentre, is known as the Philippines' tuna capital.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
The EU said it had flown in 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid Sunday -- including medicine, tents and protective gear to fight the haemorrhagic fever -- to hard-to-reach Ituri province, the epicentre of the epidemic.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
The sole airport providing humanitarian organisations access to the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo reopened on Tuesday, when the reported number of suspected cases declined.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Anna lives in a nine-storey apartment block right next to the epicentre of one of the explosions.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
In the nature of the shock, there was a singular uniformity throughout the whole disturbed area, the chief variation noticed being evidently dependent on the observer's distance from the epicentre.
From A Study of Recent Earthquakes by Davison, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
