What is Center?
The word center means a point that is equally distant from all points around a circle or a sphere. In other words, it is the middle point in an object. The word center can also refer to a building that has an open space in the middle and is used for various purposes, such as trade fairs, conventions, and conferences.
Center can also refer to the name of a place dedicated to a set of regular activities, for example, The Student Center which means a designated place or complex which offers student services in a learning institution.
The word centre can be used as a noun, a verb, or as an adjective. Let us see how they can be used in a sentence.
“From the menu bar on your laptop, select the centre button and it will help you center your paragraph”. In this sentence, the first center describes the exact button we are interested in, whose function is to format writing in the middle of a page. That means it is used as an adjective.
The second center is used as a verb meaning to have the paragraph placed properly in the middle of a page.
What is Centre?
The word centre means a building or place where a particular activity happens. It also means the middle of something, or the focal point of attention. There is no difference in meaning between center and centre. The only difference is in spelling based on where it originates from.
For example, these sentences both mean the same thing:
- “John, kindly run to the learning centre and bring me the two balls in the right-hand corner,” said the sports teacher.
- “John, kindly run to the learning center and bring me the two balls in the right-hand corner,” said the sports teacher.
Center is used a lot in Mathematics. For example, “find the center of the circle” in geometry. This time it is used as a noun. If you replaced center with centre in the sentence, you would mean the same thing.
The word ‘center’ is mainly used in American English, while the word ‘centre’ is mainly used in British English. Language keeps on evolving and as it spreads to different countries and continents it changes due to preference of a particular group, either in meaning or in spelling.
Difference Between Center and Centre
Centre is the British English term for the word “center”. It used as a noun that refers to a point in space, or to an area inside of a circle Centre can also be used as an adjective to describe something placed in the middle of something else.
The word “center” has come from the French word “centre” which means “the middle point of anything”. This French word was in turn derived from Latin “centrum” which means “a central point.”
What makes the two words different is spelling and where they come from, but there is no difference in meaning.
Comparison Between Center and Centre
| Comparison parameter | Center | Centre |
| Origin | It was derived from the earlier form which happens to be centre. | It originated from the French word, centre, and the Latin word centrum. |
| Users | It is used by Americans and in countries where America has a lot of influence. | It is used by the British and in countries that were part of the British Empire such as Kenya. |
| Timeline | Relatively newer version of centre. | The older version of the two. |
| Spelling | Spelling accepted in America is center | Spelling accepted in Britain is centre |
Reference
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/nam.1953.1.4.259?journalCode=ynam20