different between center vs pole

English

Alternative forms

• centre (UK, Ireland and all Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.)

Etymology

• Borrowed from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek ??????? (kéntron), from ??????? (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
• (group theory): In the notation Z(G), the letter Z derives from the German Zentrum (“center”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?s?n.t?/, [?s????]
  • (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): [?s????]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?n.t?(?)/
• Hyphenation: cen?ter
• Rhymes: -?nt?(?)
• Homophone: sinner (pin-pen merger)
• Homophone: centre

Noun

center (plural centers) (American spelling) (Canadian spelling, alternate)

1. The point in the interior of a circle that is equidistant from all points on the circumference. [from 14th c.]
   • 1908, Thomas L. Heath, translating Euclid, Elements, III.9:

     If a point be taken within a circle, and more than two equal straight lines fall from the point on the circle, the point taken is the centre of the circle.

2. The point in the interior of a sphere that is equidistant from all points on the circumference. [from 14th c.]
   • 2005, David Adam, The Guardian, 4 Jun 2005:

     Japanese scientists are to explore the centre of the Earth. Using a giant drill ship launched next month, the researchers aim to be the first to punch a hole through the rocky crust that covers our planet and to reach the mantle below.

3. The middle portion of something; the part well away from the edges.
4. (geometry) The point on a line that is midway between the ends.
5. (geometry) The point in the interior of any figure of any number of dimensions that has as its coordinates the arithmetic mean of the coordinates of all points on the perimeter of the figure (or of all points in the interior for a center of volume).
6. (group theory, ring theory) The subgroup (respectively, subring), denoted Z(G), of those elements of a given group (respectively, ring) G that commute with every element of G.
7. A place where the greater part of some function or activity occurs.

   shopping center, convention center, civic center, garment center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Rockefeller Center

8. A topic that is particularly important in a given context.

   the center of the controversy

   the center of attention

9. (sports) A player in the middle of the playing area
   1. (basketball) The player, generally the tallest, who plays closest to the basket.
   2. (ice hockey) The forward that generally plays between the left wing and right wing and usually takes the faceoffs.
   3. (American football, Canadian football) The person who holds the ball at the beginning of each play.
10. (netball) A player who can go all over the court, except the shooting circles.
11. (soccer) A pass played into the centre of the pitch.
12. (rugby) One of the backs operating in a central area of the pitch, either the inside centre or outside centre.
13. (architecture) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.
14. (engineering) One of the two conical steel pins in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves.
15. (engineering) A conical recess or indentation in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.
16. (politics) The ensemble of moderate or centrist political parties.
17. (Australia, New Zealand) The ring in the gambling game two-up in which the spinner operates.

Synonyms

• (point on a line midway between the ends): midpoint; see also Thesaurus:midpoint
• (point in the interior of figure with mean coordinates): centroid, center of gravity, center of mass
• (middle portion of something): middle, midst

Antonyms

• periphery

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

center (not comparable) (American spelling)

1. Of, at, or related to a center.

Synonyms

• central

Translations

Verb

center (third-person singular simple present centers, present participle centering, simple past and past participle centered) (American spelling)

1. (transitive) To cause (an object) to occupy the center of an area.
   • ????, Matthew Prior, Celia to Damon

     Thy joys are centred all in me alone.

2. (transitive) To cause (some attribute, such as a mood or voltage) to be adjusted to a value which is midway between the extremes.
3. (transitive) To give (something) a central basis.
   • 2012, Michael Kaminski et al., Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars: An Anthology, chapter 7, 87:

     However, Lucas also centered the plot around the protection of the secret Death Star plans, which now filled the role of the clan treasure the enemy is seeking in Hidden Fortress; […]

4. (intransitive) To concentrate on (something), to pay close attention to (something).

5. (engineering) To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center.

Usage notes

The spelling centre is standard in UK English. In Canada it is typical in proper names, e.g. Toronto Centre for the Arts, but "center" is also commonly used otherwise, e.g. shopping center, center of town. Both spellings can be encountered even in the same text; e.g. in NHL hockey where there are many Canadian and US teams, reference might be made to the "center" forward position and a "centre" where a game is played.

The indirect object of the intransitive verb is given the prepositions on, in, at, or around. At is primary used only in mathematical contexts. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary observes that center around is objected to by some people on the grounds that it is illogical, but states that it is an idiom, and thus that such objections are irrelevant. It offers revolve around as an alternative to center around for those who would avoid the idiom.

Related terms

• central

Translations

Further reading

• center in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• center in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• center at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Centre, centre, recent, tenrec

Spanish

Noun

center m (plural centers)

1. (baseball) center

Swedish

Noun

center c or n

1. n a centre; a place where some function or activity occurs; see also centrum
2. c (uncountable, politics) the political centre, parties and politicians in between the left and right wings
3. c (sports) a centre; midplayer of a team

Declension

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p??l/, /p??l/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /po?l/
  • IPA^(key): [p?o???], [p?o??]
• (US) IPA^(key): [p?o???]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /p??l/
• Rhymes: -??l
• Homophones: Pole, poll

Etymology 1

From Middle English pole, pal, from Old English p?l (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-Germanic *palaz, *p?laz (“pole”), from Latin p?lus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”) from Old Latin *paxlus, from Proto-Indo-European *peh??- (“to nail, fasten”).

Noun

pole (plural poles)

1. Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
2. (fishing) A type of basic fishing rod.
3. A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.
4. (slang, spotting) A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.
5. (historical) A unit of length, equal to a rod (¹?₄ chain or 5+¹?₂ yards).
6. (motor racing) Pole position.
7. (US, African-American Vernacular, slang) A gun.
8. (vulgar) A penis

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:stick
• (unit of length): rod

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

pole (third-person singular simple present poles, present participle poling, simple past and past participle poled)

1. To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole.

2. To identify something quite precisely using a telescope.

3. (transitive) To furnish with poles for support.

4. (transitive) To convey on poles.

5. (transitive) To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.
6. (transitive, baseball) To strike (the ball) very hard.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle French pole, pôle, from Latin polus, from Ancient Greek ????? (pólos, “axis of rotation”).

Noun

pole (plural poles)

1. Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.
2. A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south).
3. (geometry) A fixed point relative to other points or lines.
4. (electricity) A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves.
5. (complex analysis) For a meromorphic function ${\displaystyle f(z)}$, any point ${\displaystyle a}$ for which ${\displaystyle f(z)\rightarrow \infty }$ as ${\displaystyle z\rightarrow a}$.

6. (obsolete) The firmament; the sky.
   • 1634, John Milton, Comus, 1817, Paradise Regained... To which is added a complete collection of his miscellaneous poems, page 211,

     And the slope sun his upward beam / Shoots against the dusky pole,

7. Either of the states that characterize a bipolar disorder.

Antonyms

• (complex analysis): zero

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

pole (third-person singular simple present poles, present participle poling, simple past and past participle poled)

1. (transitive) To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles.

Anagrams

• LEPO, lope, olpe, pleo-

Aiwoo

Verb

pole

1. to work (in a garden or field)

References

• Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) , “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, issue 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German boln.

Verb

pole

1. (Uri) to make noise, clatter, rumble

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 35.

Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *po?e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?pol?]

Noun

pole n

1. (agriculture) field
2. (physics) field
3. (algebra) field
4. (computing) field
5. (programming) array

Declension

Synonyms

• komutativní t?leso n (algebra)

Further reading

• pole in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• pole in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Adverb

pole

1. in Polish

Estonian

Etymology

Contraction of ep ole (Modern: ei ole). ep is the old 3rd person singular form of the negative verb.

Verb

pole

1. Alternative form of ei ole

Galician

Etymology 1

From Latin pollen.

Noun

pole m (plural poles)

1. pollen
2. (motor racing) Pole position.

Synonyms

• primeira posición

Etymology 2

See pulir.

Verb

pole

1. Third-person singular (el, ela, vostede^?) present indicative of pulir

Latin

Noun

pole

1. vocative singular of polus

References

• pole in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• pole in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *p??e, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh?- (whence English plain, plane, plan, piano, clan, plant, planet, place, floor, and flake).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?.l?/

Noun

pole n (diminutive poletko)

1. field (land area; wide open space)
2. (regional, singular only) outside
3. (geometry) area
4. (physics) field
5. (computing) field

Declension

Derived terms

• pole namiotowe
• szuka? wiatru w polu

Related terms

• Polska
• English: Poland

Further reading

• pole in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• pole in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

pole (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. vocative singular of pol

Spanish

Etymology

From English pole.

Noun

pole m (plural poles)

1. (motor racing) Pole position

   Synonym: primera posición

Verb

pole

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of polir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of polir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of polir.

Swahili

Pronunciation

Interjection

pole (plural poleni)

1. sorry

See also

• samahani

Adjective

-pole (declinable)

1. calm, gentle

Inflection

Derived terms

• Nominal derivations:
  • upole (“gentleness”)