κέντρον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱent-r-om (“pointed tool”), from *ḱent- (“to prick; point”); direct cognate with Albanian çandër (“forked pole”) and probably Old Armenian սանտր (santr), սանդր (sandr, “comb”).

Equivalent to κεντέω (kentéō, “I sting”) +‎ -τρον (-tron).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kén.tron/ → /ˈcen.tron/ → /ˈcen.dron/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kén.tron/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈken.tron/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcen.tron/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcen.tron/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈcen.dron/

Noun

κέντρον • (kéntron) n (genitive κέντρου); second declension

1. Something with a sharp point: point, spike, spur
2. sting, quill, thorn
3. Torture device or instrument of motivation: whip, goad
4. nail, rivet
5. stationary point of a pair of compasses
6. center of a circle
7. (figuratively, vulgar) penis
   • Sotades on Ptolemy II's incestuous marriage, cited by Plutarch, De liberis educandis 11a, and Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 14.621a:

     εἰς οὐχ ὁσίην τρυμαλιὴν τὸ κέντρον ὠθεῖς.

     eis oukh hosíēn trumaliḕn tò kéntron ōtheîs.

     You're sticking your prick in an unholy hole.

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ κέντρον; τοῦ κέντρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κέντρον tò kéntron	τὼ κέντρω tṑ kéntrō	τᾰ̀ κέντρᾰ tà kéntra
Genitive	τοῦ κέντρου toû kéntrou	τοῖν κέντροιν toîn kéntroin	τῶν κέντρων tôn kéntrōn
Dative	τῷ κέντρῳ tôi kéntrōi	τοῖν κέντροιν toîn kéntroin	τοῖς κέντροις toîs kéntrois
Accusative	τὸ κέντρον tò kéntron	τὼ κέντρω tṑ kéntrō	τᾰ̀ κέντρᾰ tà kéntra
Vocative	κέντρον kéntron	κέντρω kéntrō	κέντρᾰ kéntra
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• κεστός (kestós)

Descendants

• → Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܩܢܛܪܘܢ (qenṭrōn, qanṭrōn)

• → Georgian: კენტრო (ḳenṭro)
• Greek: κέντρο (kéntro)
• → Latin: centrum (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: կենդրովն (kendrovn), կենտրովն (kentrovn), կենտրոն (kentron)
  • Armenian: կենտրոն (kentron), կեդրոն (kedron)
• → Sanskrit: केन्द्र (kendra) (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “κέντρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κέντρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κέντρον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κέντρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• κέντρον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “κέντρον”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2759 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• κέντρον in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • barb idem, page 62.
  • goad idem, page 365.
  • incentive idem, page 427.
  • incitement idem, page 428.
  • pang idem, page 591.
  • peg idem, page 602.
  • point idem, page 623.
  • prick idem, page 640.
  • rowel idem, page 723.
  • smart idem, page 786.
  • spur idem, page 806.
  • stimulant idem, page 817.
  • stimulus idem, page 817.
  • sting idem, page 817.