centrepiece

English

Alternative forms

• centerpiece (US)
• centre-piece

Etymology

From centre +‎ piece.

Noun

centrepiece (plural centrepieces) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)

1. An ornament to be placed in the centre, as of a table, ceiling, etc.
2. A central article or figure.
   • 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752:

     Below is the deep abyss of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and at its head a stately semi-circle of mountains, with the pyramidal Lauterbrunnen Breithorn as the centre-piece.

   • 1987, Christina Hardyment, “Picking up Gold and Silver”, in Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe, Book Club edition, New York, N.Y.: The Atlantic Monthly Press, →OCLC, page 100:

     A small bottle of sparkling Rhineland wine was the centrepiece; beside it was a large marzipan pastry topped with strawberries.

   • 2020 May 20, Philip Haigh, “Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival”, in Rail, page 26:

     Bridge SAC66 has its place in railway history as the centrepiece of the battle to save the Settle-Carlisle Line from closure in the 1980s.
     For SAC66 is better known as Batty Moss (or Ribblehead) Viaduct - the magnificent, Grade 2-listed, 24-arch structure that strides over the pockmarked ground between Ribblehead station and Blea Moor signal box.

Translations

ornament to be placed in the centre

• Esperanto: ĉefdekoracio, ĉefornamaĵo
• German: Herzstück (de) n, Kernstück (de) n
• Irish: lárscaraoid f
• Spanish: centro de mesa (es) m (only for tables)

central article or figure

• German: Herzstück (de) n, Kernstück (de) n, Kern (de) m

Anagrams

• centerpiece