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epicentre

/ ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə /

noun

  1. the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake or underground nuclear explosion Compare focus
  2. informal.
    the absolute centre of something

    the epicentre of world sprinting

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˌepiˈcentral, adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of epicentre1

C19: from New Latin epicentrum, from Greek epikentros over the centre, from epi- + kentron needle; see centre
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Example Sentences

The sounds are rarely heard by them more than a few miles from the epicentre.

At the epicentre, the angle of emergence is a right-angle; at a great distance from the epicentre, it is nearly zero.

Naples lies sixty-nine miles from the north-west epicentre, and here more accurate observations could be made.

These are the determination of the double epicentre, and the measurement of the velocity with which the earth-waves travelled.

On the opposite side of the epicentre, the waves meet the Sierra de Ronda obliquely.

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