Where does “center” come from?
center (Middle English) comes from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον, from Proto-Hellenic *kéntron, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱéntrom.
Ancestry of “center”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle French | centre | — |
| 2 | Latin | centrum | center ; centre |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | κέντρον | Something with a sharp point: point, spike, spur;... |
| 4 | Proto-Hellenic | *kéntron | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | *ḱéntrom | — |