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κέντρον , τό, (κεντέω)
A.any sharp point:
2. metaph., in pl., tortures, pangs, Id.Tr.840 (lyr.): sg., “τὸ κ. τοῦ θανάτου ἁμαρτία1 Ep.Cor.15.56.
3. point of a spear, Plb.6.22.4: pl., of the περόναι with which Oedipus pierced his eyes, S.OT1318.
4. peg of a top, Pl.R. 436d.
5. of animals,
a. sting of bees and wasps, Ar.V.225, 407 (lyr.), al.; of scorpions, Arist.PA683a12 (so of the constellation Scorpio, Arat.505): hence, metaph., of malicious persons, “ἐς τοὺς ἔχοντας κέντρ᾽ ἀφιᾶσινE.Supp.242; “πορεύεται, ὥσπερ σκορπίος, ἠρκὼς τὸ κ.D.25.52; of Pericles as an orator, “τὸ κ. ἐγκατέλειπε τοῖς ἀκροωμένοιςEup.94.7; of Socrates, “ὥσπερ μέλιττα τὸ κ. ἐγκαταλιπώνPl.Phd.91c; “οἷον ὀφθαλμῷ κ. ἐνθεῖσαPhilostr.Im.2.1; βλέμματος κ. Onomarch. ap. Philostr.VS2.18.
b. spur of a cock, Gp.14.7.17.
c. quill of the porcupine, Ael.NA12.26.
d. = πόσθη, Sotad.1.
6. stationary point of a pair of compasses, Vitr.3.1.3: generally, centre of a circle, Pl. Ti.54e, Arist.APr.41b15, al.; ἐκ τοῦ κ. (sc. εὐθεῖα) radius, Euc.Opt. 34; “ὥσπερ κύκλον κέντρῳ περιέγραψαν τὴν πόλινPlu.Rom.11; “τὸ κ. τᾶς σφαίραςTi.Locr.100e; “τὸ κ. τῆς γῆςPtol.Tetr.52; κ. βάρεος centre of gravity, Archim.Aequil.1Def.4: metaph., κ. καὶ διαστήματι περιγράφειν circumscribe, Plu.2.513c, 524f.
7. pin, rivet, Paus.10.16.1; spur, tip, for fixing a machine in the ground, Apollod Poliorc. 144.1.
9. Astron., cardinal point on the ecliptic, Ptol.Tetr.74, S.E.M.5.12, Vett.Val.50.18, etc.
10. hard knot in stone, Thphr.HP5.2.3; flaw in crystals, Plin.HN37.28.
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hide References (36 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (36):
    • Aeschylus, Eumenides, 157
    • Aeschylus, Eumenides, 427
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 691
    • Aristophanes, Clouds, 1297
    • Aristophanes, Wasps, 407
    • Aristophanes, Wasps, 225
    • Demosthenes, Against Aristogiton 1, 52
    • Euripides, Hippolytus, 1303
    • Euripides, Hippolytus, 39
    • Euripides, Suppliants, 242
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.130
    • New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 15.56
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.16.1
    • Plato, Laws, 777a
    • Plato, Laws, 2
    • Plato, Republic, 436d
    • Plato, Republic, 573a
    • Plato, Phaedo, 91c
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 251e
    • Plato, Timaeus, 54e
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 809
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1318
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1039
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 840
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.1.29
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.387
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 683
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 802
    • Polybius, Histories, 6.22.4
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 37.28
    • Plutarch, Lycurgus, 21
    • Plutarch, Romulus, 11
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 12.26
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Lives of the Sophists, 2.18
    • Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 52
    • Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 74
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