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• centaur
  centaur

  noun

  one of a race of creatures having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse.
• Centaur
  Centaur

  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.

centaur

American  

[sen-tawr] / ˈsɛn tɔr /

noun

• centaurs
  plural

1. Classical Mythology. one of a race of creatures having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse.

2. Astronomy. Centaur, the constellation Centaurus.

3. a skillful horseman or horsewoman.

4. Rocketry. Centaur, a U.S. upper stage, with a restartable liquid-propellant engine, used with an Atlas or Titan booster to launch satellites and probes.

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centaur British  

/ ˈsɛntɔː /

noun

1. Greek myth one of a race of creatures with the head, arms, and torso of a man, and the lower body and legs of a horse

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Centaur Scientific  

/ sĕn′tôr′ /

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• centaurial
  adjective
• centaurian
  adjective
• centauric
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• centaurs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of centaur

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, Old English, from Latin centaurus, from Greek kéntauros

Explanation

Have you ever seen a centaur at the zoo? I doubt it! It's a mythological creature that's half-man, half- horse. Like elves, trolls, werewolves, zombies, and vampires, the centaur is a mythical creature, specifically a creature equal parts horse and man. This is a little like a mermaid, who is half-fish and half-woman. In case you were wondering, the top half is the man part. Even in the made-up world of mythology, the other way around just wouldn't work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

centaur Centaur centaurs

Hassabis believes we are now entering that centaur era of science.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

In automation theory, Doctorow writes, a centaur is “a person who is assisted by a machine.”

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

For their investigations, the research team was allowed to take five small samples from the back of the centaur head.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 2024

In 2013, astronomers discovered a couple of rings around Chariklo, a body known as a centaur that orbits the sun between Saturn and Uranus.

From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2023

Modeled in the shape of a centaur, it rested on the table, but was in motion nonetheless.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

In July 2025, a study published in Nature introduced an AI model called "Centaur."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 30, 2026

United Launch Alliance, the rocket operator owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has dealt with its own struggles with a new rocket, called Vulcan Centaur.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026

The venture introduced its new Vulcan Centaur rocket this year, which is partly reusable and lowers launch costs to about $110 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2024

The first in January saw Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lander launched on the first ever flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024

There is a strange story that the Centaur, Chiron, though immortal, was willing to die for him and that he was allowed to do so.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Mythical hybrid beasts such as mermaids, centaurs and chimeras testify to our enduring fascination with the plasticity of biological form: the idea that natural organisms can mutate or be reconfigured.

From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023

Brown: The one to check out now is “Centaurworld,” a show about magical centaurs, voiced by a cast that includes Broadway talent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

The centaurs have powers like the ability to become handsome for eight seconds, shoot tiny versions of themselves from their hoofs and other silly magical spells that will delight young children.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2021

Some babies have two daddies and some babies have two mommies, even if those mommies happen to be centaurs or elves.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2020

“I think I will be fine. Fortunately, we do not shoot centaurs with broken ... Ow! ... broken legs.”

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan

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