central

See also: Central

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis, from centrum (“centre”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron); by surface analysis, centre +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛntɹəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntɹəl

Adjective

central (comparative more central, superlative most central)

1. Being in the centre.
   • 1814, William Wordsworth, “The Parsonage”, in The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, volume V, London: Longman, published 1827, page 340:

     Egyption Thebes; / Tyre by the margin of the sounding waves; / Palmyra, central in the Desert, fell; / And the Arts died by which they had been raised.

   • 2013 July 27, “Putting down roots”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846:

     The plantoid […] will have a central stem containing a reservoir of liquid plastic of a sort that can be frozen by ultraviolet light. Half a dozen cylindrical roots will branch off this stem, and the plastic will flow through these from the reservoir to the tip. As in a real root, the tip will be a specialised structure.

   • 2024 May 4, John Naughton, “The internet is in decline – it needs rewilding”, in The Guardian‎:

     The network had no central ownership or controller; and it did only one thing – transfer data packets from one edge of the network to their destination at another edge.

2. Having or containing the centre of something.
3. Being very important, or key to something.

   Synonyms: dominant, main, principal

   • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:

     Cleverley was a central figure as England took the lead inside three minutes. He saw his shot handled by Moldovan defender Simion Bulgaru and Lampard drilled home the penalty in trademark fashion.

   • 2020 May 6, Jim Steer, “Full Business Case offers fresh insight into HS2's prospects”, in Rail, page 51, photo caption:

     Passengers crowd in the main concourse at London Euston on January 28 2017, before boarding West Coast Main Line services. The urgent need to relieve congestion and improve reliability on the WCML remains central in the recently published Full Business Case for HS2.

4. (anatomy) Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs.
5. (algebra) Belong or relating to the center of an algebraic structure.
   1. Of an element of an algebraic structure: which commutes with all other elements under multiplication
   2. Of a unital algebra over a field: whose center is exactly equal to the image of the base field

Derived terms

• acentral
• anterocentral
• Australian Central Daylight Time
• bicentral
• caudocentral
• central adiposity
• Central African Federation
• Central Africa Time
• Central American bushmaster
• Central Anatolia
• central angle
• central bank
• Central Bedfordshire
• Central Bohemian Region
• Central Bridge
• central business district
• central canal
• central casting
• central chimpanzee
• Central City
• central city
• Central Coast
• Central Coaster
• central committee
• central cord syndrome
• Central Daylight Time
• Central Desert
• central determiner
• central dogma
• central door locking
• Central Elgin
• Central European
• Central European Midsummer Time
• Central Europe Time
• central excise
• central fire
• Central Frontenac
• central government
• central heating
• Central Highlands
• Central Huron
• Centralia
• centralisation
• centralise
• centralish
• centrality
• centralize
• Central Kootenay
• central limit theorem
• central location test
• central locking
• centrally
• Central Manitoulin
• Central Min
• central moment
• centralmost
• central nervous system
• centralness
• Central Okanagan
• Central Otago
• central pain syndrome
• Central Papua
• central pawn
• Central Plain
• central planning
• central processing unit
• Central Provinces
• central reservation
• central retinal artery
• central sensitisation
• central simple algebra
• central spindle
• central sulcus
• central tendency
• central vacuum
• Central West
• costocentral
• craniocentral
• decentral
• dorsocentral
• epicentral
• excentral
• frontocentral
• Guinzadan Central
• hypercentral
• intercentral
• Mashonaland Central
• measure of central tendency
• mesiocentral
• metacentral
• mid-central
• midcentral
• monocentral
• multicentral
• neurocentral
• noncentral
• northcentral
• orthocentral
• Pahina Central
• paracentral
• parietocentral
• pericentral
• pluricentral
• Poblacion Central
• polycentral
• postcentral
• posteriocentral
• posterocentral
• proximocentral
• quasicentral
• San Nicolas Central
• semicentral
• southcentral
• South Central
• subcentral
• supracentral
• temporocentral
• tricentral
• uncentral
• unicentral

Related terms

• center

Translations

being in the centre

Albanian: qendror (sq) Arabic: مَرْكَزِيّ (markaziyy) Moroccan Arabic: وسْطاني (wəsṭæni) Armenian: կենտրոնական (hy) (kentronakan) Azerbaijani: mərkəzi Bavarian: zenträu Belarusian: цэнтра́льны (centrálʹny) Bengali: কেন্দ্রীয় (bn) (kendriẏo) Bulgarian: центра́лен (bg) (centrálen) Burmese: ဗဟို (my) (ba.hui) Catalan: central (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 中央 (zh) (zhōngyāng) Czech: ústřední (cs), centrální (cs) Danish: central (da) Dutch: centraal (nl) Estonian: tsentraalne, keskne Finnish: keski- (fi), keskus- French: central (fr) Friulian: centrâl Galician: central (gl) Georgian: ცენტრალური (cenṭraluri) German: zentral (de), mittig (de) Greek: κεντρικός (el) (kentrikós) Hebrew: מֶרְכָּזִי (he) m (merkazí) Hindi: केंद्रीय (hi) (kendrīya) Hungarian: központi (hu) Indonesian: sentral (id) Ingrian: tsentraljnoi Italian: centrale (it) Japanese: 中央の (ja) (ちゅうおうの, chūō no), 中心の (ja) (ちゅうしんの, chūshin no) Kazakh: орталық (ortalyq) Khmer: កណ្ដាល (km) (kɑndaal) Korean: 중앙(中央) (ko) (jung'ang) (noun used attributively), 중심(中心) (ko) (jungsim), 가운데 (ko) (gaunde) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ناوەندی (ckb) (nawendî) Kyrgyz: борбордук (ky) (borborduk) Lao: ກາງ (lo) (kāng) Latin: medius (la) Latvian: centrāls Lithuanian: centrinis (lt) Lombard: central (lmo) Macedonian: средишен (središen), централен (centralen) Malay: pusat, sentral Marathi: केंद्रीय (kendrīy) Mongolian: Cyrillic: төв (mn) (töv), төвийн (mn) (töviin) Norwegian: Bokmål: sentral (no) Old English: middel Pashto: منځنی (manźanay), مرکزي (markazí) Persian: مرکزی (fa) (markazi) Piedmontese: central Polish: centralny (pl) Portuguese: central (pt) Romanian: central (ro) Russian: центра́льный (ru) (centrálʹnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: срѐдишњӣ, централан Roman: srèdišnjī (sh), centralan Slovak: ústredný (sk), centrálny Slovene: središčen, centralen Spanish: central (es) Swahili: katikati (sw) Swedish: central (sv) Tajik: марказӣ (tg) (markazi) Thai: ศูนย์กลาง (th) (sǔun-glaang), กลาง (th) (glaang) Turkish: merkezi (tr), orta (tr) Turkmen: merkezi Ukrainian: центра́льний (uk) (centrálʹnyj) Urdu: مرکزی (markazī) Uyghur: مەركىزىي (merkiziy) Uzbek: markaziy (uz) Vietnamese: trung ương (vi) Walloon: mîtrin (wa), cintrå (wa) Welsh: canolog (cy) Yiddish: צענטראַל (tsentral)

being very important

Bavarian: zenträu Bulgarian: гла́вен (bg) (gláven) Catalan: central (ca) Finnish: keskeinen (fi) French: central (fr) Galician: central (gl) German: zentral (de) Greek: κεντρικός (el) (kentrikós) Hebrew: מרכזי (he) m (merkazí) Indonesian: sentral (id) Italian: centrale (it), fondamentale (it) Japanese: 中心の (ja) (ちゅうしんの, chūshin no), 重要な (ja) (じゅうような, jūyō na) Macedonian: главен (glaven) Pashto: منځنی (manźanay) Polish: centralny (pl) Portuguese: central (pt) Romanian: central (ro) Sanskrit: मध्य (sa) (madhya) Spanish: central (es) Swahili: katikati (sw) Yiddish: צענטראַל (tsentral)

having or containing the centre of something

Bavarian: zenträu Bulgarian: центра́лен (bg) (centrálen) Catalan: central (ca) Czech: centrální (cs) Dutch: centraal (nl) Estonian: keskne Finnish: keskus- German: zentral (de) Greek: κεντρικός (el) (kentrikós) Italian: centrale (it) Japanese: 中心の (ja) (chūshin no) Macedonian: средишен (središen), централен (centralen) Pashto: منځنی (manźanay) Romanian: central (ro) Swahili: katikati (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Danish: (please verify) central (da) Esperanto: (please verify) centra French: (please verify) central (fr) Indonesian: (please verify) sentral (id), (please verify) pusat (id) Interlingua: (please verify) central Mandarin: (please verify) 中央的, (please verify) 中心的 Welsh: (please verify) canolog (cy)

Noun

central (plural centrals)

1. (especially US) center

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [sənˈtɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [senˈtɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

central m or f (masculine and feminine plural centrals)

1. central (being in the centre)

Derived terms

• centralitat
• centralitzar
• centralment

Related terms

• centre

Noun

central f (plural centrals)

1. nexus; headquarters (non-military); central office

   Synonym: seu (“seat or headquarters”)

   Antonym: sucursal (“branch office”)

   Hyponyms: central telefònica, central telegràfica

2. (electricity) power plant

   Hyponyms: central elèctrica; central eòlica; central fotovoltaica; central geotèrmica; central heliotèrmica, central heliotermodinàmica; central hidràulica, central hidroelèctrica; central hidrotèrmica; central mareomotriu; central nuclear; central solar; central tèrmica, central termoelèctrica

Further reading

• “central”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “central”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “central” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “central” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centralis.

Noun

central c (singular definite centralen, plural indefinite centraler)

1. headquarters, place whence organizations are administrated

Declension

Declension of central

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	central	centralen	centraler	centralerne
genitive	centrals	centralens	centralers	centralernes

Adjective

central

1. central, being in the centre

Inflection

Inflection of central

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	central	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	centralt	—	—2
plural	centrale	—	—2
definite attributive1	centrale	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “central” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis. By surface analysis, centre +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.tʁal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

central (feminine centrale, masculine plural centraux, feminine plural centrales)

1. central

   Antonym: périphérique

Derived terms

• banque centrale
• chauffage central (“central heating”)
• Massif central
• rond central
• système nerveux central
• unité centrale
• vision centrale

Related terms

• centrale
• centralisateur
• centraliser
• centralisme
• centre m

Descendants

• → Turkish: santral

Further reading

• “central”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• raclent

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin centrālis.

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais)

1. central

Derived terms

• centralismo
• centralista
• centralizar

Related terms

• centro

Further reading

• “central”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Adjective

central m (feminine singular centrala, masculine plural centrals, feminine plural centralas)

1. central

Related terms

• centre

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis. By surface analysis, centro +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈtɾaw/ [sẽˈtɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈtɾal/ [sẽˈtɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈtɾal/ [sẽˈtɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈtɾa.li/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: cen‧tral

Adjective

central m or f (plural centrais)

1. central

Derived terms

• centralismo
• centralista
• centralizar
• centralmente

Noun

central f (plural centrais)

1. centre
2. headquarters

Derived terms

• central de carvão
• central elétrica
• central nuclear

Noun

central m or f by sense (plural centrais)

1. (Portugal, soccer) back (player in a position behind most players on the team)

Further reading

• “central”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “central”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “central” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “central”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “central”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “central”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French central, Latin centrālis. By surface analysis, centru +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡ʃenˈtral]

Adjective

central m or n (feminine singular centrală, masculine plural centrali, feminine and neuter plural centrale)

1. central, pivotal, nodal

Declension

Declension of central

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	central		centrală		centrali	centrale
	definite	centralul		centrala		centralii	centralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	central		centrale		centrali	centrale
	definite	centralului		centralei		centralilor	centralelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θenˈtɾal/ [θẽn̪ˈt̪ɾal] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /senˈtɾal/ [sẽn̪ˈt̪ɾal] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Latin America):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cen‧tral

Adjective

central m or f (masculine and feminine plural centrales)

1. central

Derived terms

• Administración central
• banco central
• calefacción central
• centralismo
• centralista
• centralizar
• centralmente
• precentral
• sistema nervioso central

Noun

central f (plural centrales)

1. headquarter
2. center
3. power station

   Synonym: centra eléctrica

Noun

central m or (Cuba) f (plural centrales)

1. (Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Cuba) a sugar mill

Derived terms

• central eléctrica
• Central Lechera
• central nuclear

Related terms

• centrar
• céntrico
• centro

Further reading

• “central”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “central”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Swedish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin centrālis, from centrum (“center point”) +‎ -ālis.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

central

1. central, centralized, situated at the centre (of a town)
2. central, important

Declension

Inflection of central

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	central	centralare	centralast
neuter singular	centralt	centralare	centralast
plural	centrala	centralare	centralast
masculine plural2	centrale	centralare	centralast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	centrale	centralare	centralaste
all	centrala	centralare	centralaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• busscentral
• centrala nervsystemet
• centralafrikan (“a Central African”)
• centralafrikansk
• Centralafrikanska republiken (“Central African Republic”)
• Centralamerika (“Central America”)
• centralamerikansk
• centralantenn
• centralasiatisk
• centralbank (“a central bank”)
• centralbibliotek
• centralbyråkrat
• centraldirigerad
• centraldirigering
• centraldispensär
• centralenhet
• Centraleuropa
• centraleuropeisk
• centralfigur
• centralförbund
• centralförening
• centralförvaltning
• centralgestalt
• centralisera
• centralisering
• centralism (“centralism”)
• centralistisk
• centralkassa
• centralkommitté
• centralkyrka
• centralkök
• centrallager
• centrallasarett
• centrallyrik
• centrallyrisk
• centrallås
• centralmakt
• centralmyndighet
• centralnämnd
• centralorgan
• centralorganisation
• centralort
• centralpalats
• centralprov
• centralpunkt
• centralradio
• centralredaktion
• centralregering
• centralsjukhus
• centralskola
• centralstation
• centralstimulantia
• centralstimulerande
• centralstyrd
• centralstyre
• centralstyrelse
• centralvärme

Etymology 2

Clipping of centralstation, or any other compound of the adjective.

Noun

central c

1. a central, a centre, a central station, a junction, a connection point, an electrical switchboard

Declension

Declension of central

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	central	centrals
	definite	centralen	centralens
plural	indefinite	centraler	centralers
	definite	centralerna	centralernas

Related terms

• elcentral
• gruppcentral
• huvudcentral
• ledningscentral
• undercentral
• värmecentral

References

• central in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)