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-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 ³ 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 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 central²

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

Explanation

Anything central is in the middle of something — or essential to it. Central things are fundamental and important. Think about the center of a circle: it's right in the middle, equidistant from all sides. Similarly, anything central is in the middle of something. The central part of a city is downtown. You can also say something central is an important, crucial part of something. National security is a central responsibility of the President. Communication is a central goal of writing. Central things are essential and key.

Example Sentences

While no official figures have been released, rough estimates put the costs of holding all these stages at more than £50m, most of which comes from central government and local authorities.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

Another reason to support less-reactive markets is that inflation is starting from a lower base, which means central banks aren’t forced into aggressively hawkish responses as they were in 2022.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026

When Warsh appears Tuesday in front of senators for the confirmation hearing that could put him one step closer to leading the central bank, his toughest audience could be his future colleagues.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Planters started anew in central Florida, in Polk County and its surroundings, what’s known as the Ridge, the highest part of Florida, and the only part that was never below sea level, historically.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

The calls came in to a central operator sitting at a switchboard at the phone company downtown.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

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