Definition of CENTAUR
1
or less commonly Centaur : any of a race of creatures fabled to be half human and half horse and to live in the mountains of Thessaly
2
Centaur astronomy : any of a class of asteroids with elliptical orbits that typically lie between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune
The Centaurs are distinguished dynamically as a group of objects whose orbits cross those of the Jovian planets and whose perihelions lie outside the orbit of Jupiter.—
Robert H. Brown et al.
Examples of centaur in a Sentence
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One of the latter is a giant man-eating, glitter-pissing cat-centaur crossbreed, but don’t even ask.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Feb. 2026
Mermaids, centaurs, satyrs, and sphinxes.
—Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
But hidden on the northern end of the island is a secret community filled with magical beings, unicorns, centaurs, and mermen, the only place on earth these creatures can be themselves.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 21 Jan. 2026
The healing centaur, Chiron in Aries, and the liberating asteroid Lilith, which is in Scorpio, add a cosmic punch.
—Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for centaur
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin Centaurus, from Greek Kentauros
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of centaur was before the 12th century
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Cite this Entry
“Centaur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/centaur. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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