| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| centaury |
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| SYLLABICATION: | cen·tau·ry |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  s n tôr  |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. cen·tau·ries
Any of several herbs of the genus Centaurium, especially a Eurasian species (C. erythraea) that has clusters of pink flowers and has long been used in herbal medicine. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old English centaurie, from Latin centaurum, from Greek kentaureion, from Kentauros, centaur (from the legend that the plant's medicinal properties were discovered by the centaur Chiron).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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