Aristotle › Greek Lexicon › κέντρον

κέντρον

kentron

any sharp point

Appears 124 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

κέντρον, τό, (κεντέω) A. any sharp point: 1. horse-goad, [ἵπποι] ἄνευ κέντροιο θέοντες Il. 23.387, cf. 430, Ar. Nu. 1297, X. Cyr. 7.1.29, etc.; διπλοῖς κέντροισι S. OT 809; ὄνειδος ἔτυψεν δίκαν διφρηλάτου μεσολαβεῖ κ. A. Eu. 157 (lyr.): post-Hom., ox-goad (Hom. βουπλήξ), used as an instrument of torture, Hdt. 3.130; κέντροις καὶ μάστιξιν Pl. Lg. 777a: prov., πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν (v. λακτίζω 2); δεῖ . . κέντρου πολλάκις, οὕτω δὲ καὶ χαλινοῦ Longin. 2.2; as a symbol of sovereignty, λαβὼν . . χερσὶν κέντρα κηδεύει πόλιν S. Fr. 683. b. metaph., goad, spur, incentive, Pi. Fr. 124.4, A. Pr. 691 (lyr.); ποῦ γὰρ τοσοῦτο κ. ὡς μητροκτονεῖν; Id. Eu. 427; κέντροις ἔρωτος E. Hipp. 39, cf.1303; πόθου κ. Pl. R. 573a; κέντρα καὶ ὠδῖνες Id. Phdr. 251e; κ. ἐγερτικὸν θυμοῦ Plu. Lyc. 21; κέντρα πτολέμοιο, of the Argives, Orac. ap. Sch.Theoc. 14.48; κ. ἐμοῦ desire for me, S. Ph. 1039. 2. metaph., in pl., tortures, pangs, Id. Tr. 840 (lyr.): sg., τὸ κ. τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία 1 Ep.Cor. 15.56. 3. point of a spear, Plb. 6.22.4: pl., of the περόναι with which Oedipus pierced his eyes, S. OT 1318. 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. PA 683a12 (so of the constellation Scorpio, Arat. 505): hence, metaph., of malicious persons, ἐς τοὺς ἔχοντας κέντρʼ ἀφιᾶσιν E. Supp. 242; πορεύεται, ὥσπερ σκορπίος, ἠρκὼς τὸ κ. D. 25.52; of Pericles as an orator, τὸ κ. ἐγκατέλειπε τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις Eup. 94.7; of Socrates, ὥσπερ μέλιττα τὸ κ. ἐγκαταλιπών Pl. Phd. 91c; οἷον ὀφθαλμῷ κ. ἐνθεῖσα Philostr. Im. 2.1; βλέμματος κ. Onomarch. ap. Philostr. VS 2.18. b. spur of a cock, Gp. 14.7.17. c. quill of the porcupine, Ael. NA 12.26. 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.; ἡ ἐκ τοῦ κ. (sc. εὐθεῖα) radius, Euc. Opt. 34; ὥσπερ κύκλον κέντρῳ περιέγραψαν τὴν πόλιν Plu. Rom. 11; τὸ κ. τᾶς σφαίρας Ti.Locr. 100e; τὸ κ. τῆς γῆς Ptol. 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. 8. ῥακτηρίοις κέντροισιν, of oars, S. Fr. 802. 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. HP 5.2.3; flaw in crystals, Plin. HN 37.28.

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

Index Aristotelicus. Hermann Bonitz's sense-by-sense analysis of κέντρον — with the passages he singles out as decisive for each meaning — will appear here. That curated, interpretive selection is the layer LSJ and a raw concordance don't provide. Digitisation in progress; this entry is not yet available.
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