centre
cen·tre/ˈsɛntəː/noun, verb
centre is spelled C-E-N-T-R-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (cen·tre). It appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “center vs centre” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, centre means “Australia, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of center” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of centre is centres.
How many letters and syllables are in centre?
| Letters | 6: C-E-N-T-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cen·tre |
| In writing | 89 times per million words; the 1,191st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is centre?
Centre appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce centre?
- UK /ˈsɛntəː/
- UK [ˈsɛntʰəː]
- /ˈsɛntɚ/
Centre has 2 syllables, split cen·tre in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-US_center_(nasal_flapping).ogg, En-us-center.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with centre
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: center.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with centre?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as centre from its last stressed vowel (/ɛntə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: center, recent.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of centre
- centres plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- center US
- centring participle, present
- centreing participle, present, rare
- centred participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does centre mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Australia, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of center.
verb
- 1
CanadaIrelandUKAlternative spelling of center.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate centre?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of centre: Ctr., ctr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does centre come from?
From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).