omphalos

[ om-fuh-luhs ]

noun

1. the navel; umbilicus.
2. the central point.
3. Greek Antiquity. a stone in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, thought to mark the center of the earth.

omphalos

/ ˈɒmfəˌlɒs /

noun

1. (in the ancient world) a sacred conical object, esp a stone. The most famous omphalos at Delphi was assumed to mark the centre of the earth
2. the central point
3. literary.
   another word for navel

Word History and Origins

Origin of omphalos¹

1840–50; < Greek omphalós; akin to navel

Word History and Origins

Origin of omphalos¹

Greek: navel

Example Sentences

But for classical music, it’s the very omphalos, everything’s sort of seated, and it’s the hub.

From Los Angeles Times

All day long she sat over a hole in the ground, the omphalos, the navel of the earth, breathing petrochemical fumes escaping from underneath.

From Literature

The chief replica is a statue at Athens, commonly called the 'Apollo on the Omphalos,' having been associated with a marble omphalos, or sacred cone of Apollo, which was discovered at the same time.

From Project Gutenberg

Yes; but if not of the earth, for earth's tenant Jerusalem was the omphalos of mortality.

From Project Gutenberg

This last summer he made a tour through the centre of the island, and obtained boreal shells at Buchlyvie in Stirlingshire,—the omphalos of Scotland.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• heart
• hub
• place