decenter

American  

[dee-sen-ter] / diˈsɛn tər /

especially British, decentre

verb (used with object)

1. to put out of the center or make eccentric.

   The goal is to decenter the treatment zone of the eye to align with the line of sight instead of the geometric center of the cornea.

2. to remove from a position of priority or dominance so as to give attention and influence to other viewpoints, concerns, etc..

   The new version of the test will force high schools to teach history from a perspective that decenters whiteness.

   The author’s call to decenter the self, to make empathetic leaps toward the other, is unsentimental yet moving.

3. Astronomy. to cause (an orbit) to follow a path in which the body being orbited is not at the center.

   A decentered orbit is temporary—all orbits around a single body become elliptical and centered in due time.

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verb (used without object)

1. to shift one’s attention from one’s usual focus or preoccupation.

   As therapists we must decenter from our own perspective and experience the client through their own way of being in the world.

Etymology

Origin of decenter

First recorded in 1885–90; de- ( def. ) + center ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decenter

One thing that’s stood out to me is the way Pappas seems to actually decenter himself in these settings, which you don’t need me to tell you is unusual for a politician.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026

Aiming to decenter visual representations in data analysis, Zong and Hajas, who lost his sight at age 16, began co-designing Umwelt more than a year ago.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2024

It landed just three years after Edward Said’s critique of the western gaze, “Orientalism,” which helped lead a dramatic shift within the academy and broader literary circles to decenter European and American voices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2023

I want to decenter the straight white male hero and give us hero stories that center people who we haven’t seen before, because that’s the kind of thing I grew up without.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2020

These were now collected into little groups, of from three to a dozen, each, with the exception of myself and one or two others of a decenter cast, having the staff and bag.

From The Station; The Party Fight And Funeral; The Lough Derg Pilgrim Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of William Carleton, Volume Three by William Carleton

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