Center vs First - What's the difference?
center | first |
The point in the interior of a circle or sphere that is equidistant from all points on the circumference.
* 1908 , , translating Euclid, Elements , III.9:
* 2005 , David Adam, The Guardian , 4 Jun 2005:
The middle portion of something; the part well away from the edges.
(geometry) The point on a line that is midway between the ends.
(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).
A place where some function or activity occurs.
A topic that is particularly important in a given context.
(basketball) The player, generally the tallest, who plays closest to the basket.
(ice hockey) The forward that generally plays between the left wing and right wing and usually takes the faceoffs.
(American football) The person who holds the ball at the beginning of each play.
(Canadian football) The person who holds the ball at the beginning of each play.
(netball) A player who can go all over the court, except the shooting circles.
(soccer) A pass played into the centre of the pitch.
* {{quote-news
, year=2010
, date=December 28
, author=Owen Phillips
, title=Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool
, work=BBC
(rugby) One of the backs operating in a central area of the pitch, either the inside centre or outside centre.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=February 4
, author=Gareth Roberts
, title=Wales 19-26 England
, work=BBC
(architecture) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.
(engineering) One of the two conical steel pins in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves.
(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.
Of, at, or related to a center.
To cause (an object) to occupy the center of an area.
* Prior
To cause (some attribute, such as a mood or voltage) to be adjusted to a value which is midway between the extremes.
To concentrate on (something), to pay close attention to (something).
(engineering) To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center.
Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
* 1784 : William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c. ,
Before anything else; firstly.
* , chapter=8
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.
* 1699 , ,
(uncountable) The first gear of an engine.
(countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
(countable, baseball) first base
(countable, British, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.
(countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.
A fraction of an integer ending in one.
As nouns the difference between center and first
is that center is centre / center while first is ridge (of roof).center
English
Alternative forms
* centreNoun
(en noun)- 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.
- 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.
- shopping center
- convention center
- the center of the controversy
- the center of attention
citation, page= , passage=Bent twice sent efforts wide of the far post after cutting in from the left, Wellbeck missed his kick from an inviting centre and failed to get on the end of a looping pass when six yards out.}}
citation, page= , passage=Gatland's side got back to within striking distance when fly-half Jones's clever pass sent centre Jonathan Davies arcing round Shontayne Hape.}}
Synonyms
* (point on a line midway between the ends) midpoint * (point in the interior of figure with mean coordinates) centroid, center of gravity, center of massAntonyms
* peripheryDerived terms
* center of attention * center of curvature * center of gravity * center of inertia * center of lift * center of mass * center stage * centerpiece * community center * job center * music center * pleasure center * shopping centerAdjective
(-)Synonyms
* centralVerb
(en verb)- Thy joys are centred all in me alone.
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). (term) is primary used only in mathematical contexts. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary observes that (term) 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 (term) as an alternative to (term) for those who would avoid the idiom.External links
* * *Anagrams
* * * ----first
English
(wikipedia first)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) (m), .Alternative forms
* firste (archaic) * fyrst (obsolete) * fyrste (obsolete)Adjective
(-)Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}
PREFACE
- THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
Alternative forms
* ; (in names of monarchs and popes) IAdverb
(-)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.}}
Unspontaneous combustion, passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.}}
Noun
Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.