central

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin centrālis, from centrum (“centre”), from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron).

adj

1. Being in the centre.
   Egyption Thebes; / Tyre by the margin of the sounding waves; / Palmyra, central in the Desert, fell; / And the Arts died by which they had been raised. 1814, William Wordsworth, “The Parsonage”, in The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, volume V, London: Longman, published 1827, page 340
   The plantoid[…]will have a central stem containing a reservoir of liquid plastic of a sort that can be frozen by ultraviolet light. Half a dozen cylindrical roots will branch off this stem, and the plastic will flow through these from the reservoir to the tip. As in a real root, the tip will be a specialised structure. 2013-07-27, “Putting down roots”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846
2. Having or containing the centre of something.
3. Being very important, or key to something.
   Cleverley was a central figure as England took the lead inside three minutes. He saw his shot handled by Moldovan defender Simion Bulgaru and Lampard drilled home the penalty in trademark fashion. September 7, 2012, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport
   Passengers crowd in the main concourse at London Euston on January 28 2017, before boarding West Coast Main Line services. The urgent need to relieve congestion and improve reliability on the WCML remains central in the recently published Full Business Case for HS2. May 6 2020, Jim Steer, “Full Business Case offers fresh insight into HS2's prospects”, in Rail, page 51, photo caption
4. (anatomy) Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs.

noun

1. (especially US) centre