central

¹ American  

[sen-truhl] / ˈsɛn trəl /

adjective

1. of or forming the center.

   the central hut in the village.

2. in, at, or near the center.

   a central position.

3. constituting something from which other related things proceed or upon which they depend.

   a central office.

4. principal; chief; dominant.

   the play's central character.

   Synonyms:

   primary, leading, key, main, major

5. Anatomy, Zoology.

   1. of or relating to the central nervous system.

   2. of or relating to the centrum of a vertebra.

6. 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.

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

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noun

1. (formerly)

   1. a main telephone exchange.

   2. a telephone operator at such an exchange.

Central ² American  

[sen-truhl] / ˈsɛn trəl /

noun

1. a region in central Scotland. 1,016 sq. mi. (2,631 sq. km).

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central ³ American  

[sen-trahl, sen-trahl] / sɛnˈtrɑl, sɛnˈtrɑl /

noun

plural

centrals,

plural

centrales

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

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central British  

/ ˈsɛntrəl /

adjective

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. 1. of or relating to the central nervous system

   2. 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

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Other Word Forms

• centrally adverb

Etymology

Origin of central¹

First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin centrālis, “centrally located,” equivalent to centr(um) center + -ālis -al ¹

Origin of central¹

First recorded in 1885–90; from Latin American Spanish, special use of Spanish central central ¹

Example Sentences

Ayandeh offered the highest interest rates of any Iranian bank, attracting millions of depositors and borrowing heavily from the central bank, which printed money to keep the institution afloat, economists said.

From The Wall Street Journal

China's central government allocated funds to refit stoves, but subsidies faded after three years and additional aid has drastically declined, local media reported this week.

From Barron's

Building in America will remain a central tenet of the president’s policy.

From Barron's

The central bank started purchasing short-term U.S. debt or Treasury bills last month, and its balance sheet is noticeably expanding for the first time since 2022, outside the run-up seen in 2023 to rescue banks.

From Barron's

The central bank started purchasing short-term U.S. debt or Treasury bills last month, and its balance sheet is noticeably expanding for the first time since 2022, outside the run-up seen in 2023 to rescue banks.

From Barron's

Related Words

• basic
• essential
• fundamental
• important
• key
• paramount
• pivotal
• significant