centaur

American  

[sen-tawr] / ˈsɛn tɔr /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. one of a race of creatures having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse.

2. Astronomy. Centaur, the constellation Centaurus.

3. a skillful horseman or horsewoman.

4. Rocketry. Centaur, a U.S. upper stage, with a restartable liquid-propellant engine, used with an Atlas or Titan booster to launch satellites and probes.

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centaur British  

/ ˈsɛntɔː /

noun

1. Greek myth one of a race of creatures with the head, arms, and torso of a man, and the lower body and legs of a horse

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Centaur Scientific  

/ sĕn′tôr′ /

1. Any of a group of icy bodies similar to both asteroids and comets, orbiting the Sun in elliptical paths mostly in the region between Saturn and Neptune. Centaurs range in diameter from around 100 to 400 km (62 to 248 mi) and are believed to be Kuiper belt objects that have escaped into the vicinity of the gas-giant planets. Centaurs are considered to have unstable orbits, and gravitational encounters with the large outer planets could send them into the inner solar system or alternatively could eject them from the solar system into interstellar space. Chiron, the first such body to be classified as a Centaur, was discovered in 1977.

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Other Word Forms

• centaurial adjective
• centaurian adjective
• centauric adjective

Etymology

Origin of centaur

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, Old English, from Latin centaurus, from Greek kéntauros

Explanation

Have you ever seen a centaur at the zoo? I doubt it! It's a mythological creature that's half-man, half- horse. Like elves, trolls, werewolves, zombies, and vampires, the centaur is a mythical creature, specifically a creature equal parts horse and man. This is a little like a mermaid, who is half-fish and half-woman. In case you were wondering, the top half is the man part. Even in the made-up world of mythology, the other way around just wouldn't work.

Example Sentences

No one can convince her otherwise, and she decides to win her spouse back with an enchanted robe that the dying centaur Nessus told her was a love charm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Air pollution is also unlikely for another reason; the centaur head has been indoors in Copenhagen since before the modern industrialization began in the 18th century.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

Grover, it turns out, is a satyr, charged with protecting Percy; Mr. Brunner is really a centaur named Chiron.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2023

Sagittarius is generally depicted as the Archer, a centaur holding a bow.

From Scientific American • Aug. 4, 2023

Leo waited while the fish centaur put away his supplies.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• behemoth
• freak
• giant
• whale