Centerpiece

How to spell centerpiece

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce centerpiece

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does centerpiece mean?

1. nounThe most important or prominent part of something, or a decorative object placed at the centre of a table.

Centerpiece in a sentence

• The tax reform was the centerpiece of the new budget.

• A tall vase of roses served as the centerpiece for the wedding reception.

Where does centerpiece come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a compound built from two older words that English absorbed from very different sources. The first part, 'center', traces back through Latin centrum to the Greek kentron, which originally named the sharp point of a drawing compass, the fixed spike around which a circle is swung. The second part, 'piece', came into English from Old French piece, meaning a portion, fragment, or single item, a word of probable Celtic origin. Joined together, 'centerpiece' literally means the item placed at the middle point, and it appeared in English around the early 1800s, first describing the ornamental object set at the centre of a dining table. The figurative sense, the most important or prominent feature of something, grew naturally out of that physical image. Note that this 'center' spelling is the American form; British and Canadian writers use 'centrepiece', so the trap here is keeping the '-ter' ending rather than the '-tre' seen elsewhere.

How the word is built

• center (middle point, from Latin centrum)
• piece (a portion or item, from Old French piece)

British and American spelling

Centerpiece is the American spelling. British English spells it centrepiece.