centricaladj.
/ˈsɛntrᵻkl/, U.S. /ˈsɛntrəkəl/ Now rare.
1. Of, relating to, or characterized by a centre; = centric adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > of or relating to a centre
centrical1612
1612 T. Dekker If it be not Good sig. G2 If that man in the moone should write a prognostication, oh he should not neede to..talke in gibrish no man vnderstands, of Quartiles, Aspects, Stations, Retrogradations, Peragrations; Centricall, Eccentricall, Cosmicall, Acronicall.
1652 S. Morgan Horologiographia Optica 2 A Point is either centricall or excentricall.
1765 D. Angelo School of Fencing 13/1 Much depends on..keeping a solid firmness in the centrical motion of the body when a thrust is made.
1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. II. vi. ii. 30 A certain extension of the centrical medium.
1877 F. Brodie in G. F. Chambers Handbk. Descr. Astron. (ed. 3) iv. iii. 325 The second centrical envelope [of the comet] just embraced both these eccentric envelopes.
1909 Cassier's Mag. Oct. 565/1 The principle of centrical fitting is applied to the entire design of the engine, this insuring accurate alignment.
1964 News (Frederick, Maryland) 17 Aug. 4/5 The centrical theory of traffic flow already in use in Boston and Baltimore.
2.
a. Situated in or at the centre; central; = centric adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > situated in the centre or middle
mideOE
middleeOE
mean1340
midwarda1400
moyen1481
centrica1593
midway1608
centricala1631
umbilical1742
middling1747
median1771
focal1825
a1631 J. Donne LXXX Serm. (1640) xxxiii. 327 When all these lines were brought into one center, not to let that center rest, but to..bring more persons into that one centricall God-head, this was hard for reason to digest.
1663 G. Harvey Archelogia Philosophica Nova II. ii. i. 218 The air..doth sooner desert the extream parts, as being..more remote from the centrical ones, which do retain the air the longest.
1741 A. Monro Anat. Nerves 42 in Anat. Human Bones (ed. 3) In the centrical Part of the optic Nerve.
1768 G. Whitefield Let. to Governor Wright 27 The late addition of the two Floridas renders Georgia more centrical for the southern district.
1803 Duke of Wellington Let. 17 Aug. in Dispatches (1837) II. 208 To leave the infantry in a centrical situation.
1864 Good Words Jan. 510/2 Situated in a centrical part of the town.
1903 Nature 12 Feb. 341/1 The diagram of Galileo's telescope shows a pencil of rays full and centrical on the object-glass.
1971 Internat. Jrnl. Middle East Stud. 2 369 The city fathers, anxious to open more land in a centrical part of town.
b. Of greatest importance; principal or essential. Cf. central adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central
cardinal1440
material1603
primal1619
real1620
centrical1659
vital1659
essential1770
nucleal1826
key1832
pivotal1837
keystone1846
pivot1861
quintessential1901
central1902
core1962
1659 F. Osborne Ess. 33 It is not unlikely, to have been the Primary and Centrical Sin.
1667 J. Raymond Folly in Print 57 Our hearts are centrical in Love, At distance we incline and greet.
1799 W. Dalgliesh Serm. on Chief Doctr. & Duties I. i. 33 In the most centrical nations in Christendom.
1865 Aberdeen Jrnl. 8 Nov. 6/6 His one great, surpassing, and centrical design for the recovery and happiness of mankind.
1933 B. Gadelius Human Mentality xi. 285 This circumstance alone does not entitle us to suppose that the consciousness of intention is of centrical origin.
2012 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 17 May c11 Radix Theatre must revisit the centrical question of its 2011 production of Beautiful Things.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1612