Meanings
- not comparableOf or pertaining to a cento (work quoting from other authors).
The end of the poem offers a good example of his centonical procedure.
1978, Robert Marcellus Browning, German poetry in the Age of the Enlightenment: from Brockes to Klopstock2 more examples
In technical terms, the Zadonščina could be defined as a centonical palinode, i.e. as a composition built up primarily on literal or paraphrased quotations and intended to counterbalance or refute the quoted work.
1966, Roman Jakobson, Slavic Epic Studies, page 551Ballads in the black tradition are also often centonical—they borrow thematic elements from a variety of sources to build something new.
2012, Kip Lornell, Exploring American Folk Music, page 181
Origin
From Latin centō (stem centōn-) + -ical.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
centonical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centonical
“centonical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centonical. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “centonical,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centonical.
Source: centonical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.