centaurian

comparative more centaurian · superlative most centaurian

1. Pertaining to or reminiscent of a centaur.First known use 17th c.

   Balzac, a centaurian mesomorph, projects these elegant ectomorphs as creatures of a hierarchic dream.

   1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae

comparative more Centaurian · superlative most Centaurian

1. literaturePertaining to the constellation Centaurus or its imagined inhabitants.First known use 20th c.

plural Centaurians

1. literatureAn inhabitant of the constellation Centaurus.First known use 20th c.

   The Centaurians are remarkable people, but move slowly.

   1911, [L. D.] Biagi, The Centaurians: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Publishing Co., […]

   2 more examples

   Jack proposed to record a Centaurian’s vocabulary with English equivalents, and the dictawriter, hearing the queer hoots the strange creature uttered, would pick out a card which would then cause a speaker to enunciate its English synonym.

   1935 March, Murray Leinster, “Proxima Centauri”, in Astounding Stories, volume XV, number 1, Street & Smith, page 25

   Suppose that in a few years we are visited by a race of benevolent and rational beings from Alpha Centauri that have free will and an advanced culture. […] Suppose further that after they figure out our languages we realize the Centaurians are moral beings who act on reflectively endorsed and rationally appraised principle. We can now ask, “What is of moral value for the Centaurians?”

   2010, Adam D. Moore, Privacy Rights: Moral and Legal Foundations, The Pennsylvania State University Press, →ISBN, page 38