Etymology

centripetal

C3E1N1T1R1I1P3E1T1A1L1

Today it means: Directed or moving towards a centre. Full definition →

New Latin centripetālis ← Latin centrum
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcentrum“center”
  2. New Latin · borrowed fromcentripetālis
  3. English todaycentripetal

From New Latin centripetālis coined by Sir Isaac Newton, from Latin centrum (“center”) + petō (“to seek, aim”) + -al. Analysable as centri- + -petal.

Words from the same roots

Latincentrum all →

centercentrecentrifugalcentrumcentrifugecentro-centrolineal

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.