Meanings
- not comparablebiologyExpanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower cluster.
- not comparablebiologyHaving the radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some embryos.
plural centrifugals
- A rotating machine used to separate massecuite into sugar crystals and molasses.
Modern practice favours warming the massecuite in pug mills, placed above the centrifugals.
2011, H. Panda, The Complete Book on Sugarcane Processing and By-Products of Molasses1 more example
Where the sequencing of the centrifugals is accomplished by the triggering of a function in the process cycle, a buffer zone (nonproductive time) has to be inserted in the cycle time prior to this action.
1993, James C. P. Chen, Chung Chi Chou, Cane Sugar Handbook
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivetending to move away from a center
adjectivetending away from centralization, as of authority
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincentrum“center”
- New Latincentrifugālis
- Englishcentrifugal
From New Latin centrifugālis, coined by Christiaan Huygens from Latin centrum (“center”) + fugiō (“to flee”) + -al.
More words from New Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نَابِذ
- نَابِذ (nābiḏ)tending, or causing, to recede from the center
Bulgarian центробежен
- центробежен (centrobežen)tending, or causing, to recede from the center
Czech odstředivý
- odstředivýtending, or causing, to recede from the center
Dutch centrifugaal, middelpuntvliedend
- centrifugaaltending, or causing, to recede from the center
- middelpuntvliedendtending, or causing, to recede from the center
Finnish keskipakoinen, sentrifugaalinen
- keskipakoinentending, or causing, to recede from the center
- sentrifugaalinentending, or causing, to recede from the center
French centrifuge
- centrifugetending, or causing, to recede from the center
German zentrifugal
- zentrifugaltending, or causing, to recede from the center
Greek φυγόκεντρος
- φυγόκεντρος (fygókentros)tending, or causing, to recede from the center
Irish lártheifeach
- lártheifeachtending, or causing, to recede from the center
Lithuanian išcentrinis
- išcentrinistending, or causing, to recede from the center
Norwegian Bokmål sentrifugal
- sentrifugaltending, or causing, to recede from the center
Polish odśrodkowy
- odśrodkowytending, or causing, to recede from the center
Russian центробе́жный
- центробе́жный (centrobéžnyj)tending, or causing, to recede from the center
Cite this entry
centrifugal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centrifugal
“centrifugal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centrifugal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “centrifugal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/centrifugal.
Source: centrifugal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.