central

¹

[sen-truhl]

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.

noun

1. (formerly)

   1. a main telephone exchange.

   2. a telephone operator at such an exchange.

central

²

[sen-trahl, sen-trahl]

noun

plural

centrals ,

plural

centrales .

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

Central

³

[sen-truhl]

noun

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

central

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• centrally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of central¹

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

Origin of central²

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

Example Sentences

The military attacked on Monday evening as around 100 people gathered in Chaung U township in central Myanmar for a national holiday.

From BBC

It accused the charity African Parks of failing to curb poaching, ending a 15-year mandate to manage two of its protected sites in the central African country.

From BBC

After a chilly end to September and start to October across the UK, temperatures on Monday peaked in the low twenties in Celsius in central and south-east England and north-east Scotland, above the seasonal average.

From BBC

Early in the war, Ms Wahidi was displaced with her family to the central city of Deir al-Balah and set up a temporary school to help children like her own who were missing their education.

From BBC

"If I was going to Costa Rica, or central America, for security reasons - you need the destination knowledge from someone who knows somewhere inside out."

From BBC

Related Words

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