Center (American English), Centre (Commonwealth English), has a number of meanings.

1. In geometry, a point that is well-distant from the boundaries of a figure. For instance, for a circle, the center is defined as the point equidistant from all points on the circle's boundary. Similar definitions can be made for other shapes in various geometries, though for arbitrary complex shapes there may be several definitions considered appropriate in some circumstances.
2. The standard name given to a position on the field in several sports, such as American football, basketball, netball, amongst others. See: center (football), center (basketball).
3. The center of power in a country is the capital.
4. Major social or political movements often have one or more centres or headquarters around which they are focussed and from where they are directed.
5. Centre is a low-lying region of France in the centre of the country.
6. Cities often are said to have a centre; it is also called "downtown" in North America.
7. In abstract algebra, the center of a group is the subgroup consisting of those elements which commute with all other elements. Similar definitions of center apply to other algebraic structures, for example, center (algebra).
8. In politics, the center is the middle ground between the left wing and the right wing. (See also Centre Party.)
9. In music, in tonal music the central or most important pitch is the tonic, while in atonal music a pitch which acts referentially or the center of an interval cycle is a pitch center.
10. Is a liberal arts college in Danville, KY, US, known as the Harvard of the South.
11. There are several towns named Center in the United States:
    • Center, Colorado
    • Center, Missouri
    • Center, Nebraska
    • Center, North Dakota
    • Center, Outagamie County, Wisconsin
    • Center, Rock County, Wisconsin
    • Center, Texas

    There are also places named Centerville and Central.

12. In India, the Centre refers to federal (all-India) politics at New Delhi.
13. In chess, the center refers to either the central four squares (d4,e4,d5,e5) or the central 16 squares (c3-c6,d3-d6,e3-e6,f3-f6), which are strategically important in all phases of the game. Pieces in the center generally possess more activity and have a greater impact on the game than those that do not.

See also

• Center of gravity, central