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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

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Etymology

Origin of centaur

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

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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

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

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Other portraits feature a loser’s face on a shirtless firefighter sitting near a blaze, and another member’s image atop a centaur.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

Air pollution is also unlikely for another reason; the centaur head has been indoors in Copenhagen since before the modern industrialization began in the 18th century.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 2024

Grover, it turns out, is a satyr, charged with protecting Percy; Mr. Brunner is really a centaur named Chiron.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2023

Arranged all in a row were several of these animal bushes—fantastic creatures as tall as the house, standing guard against the woods—including a winged griffin, a rearing centaur, and a mermaid.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Although Centaur was presented as a model capable of simulating cognition, its biggest limitation appears to be in language comprehension.

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 world number three from Northern Ireland overcame Wilson by a score of 4-3 but was left frustrated at the match being staged on table two at the Centaur in Cheltenham.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2024

“Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it.”

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

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

Not human magic; the world of New Mushroomton, where the film is set, is filled with mythical creatures: Trolls, elves and centaurs are just some of the species that share space with one another.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2020

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

“Yes, centaurs, on Antiok. And many, many more—all the less-known creatures that were in the stories of old—karkadanns and manticores, krakens and kappas and seabulls. It is a riotous, glorious place.”

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

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