Standard Lemma guide

centralism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: S EH1 N T R AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A system that centralizes, especially an administration of some kind.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the political policy of concentrating power in a central organization

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: policy

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱent-der. Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron)der. Latin centrum Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin centrālisbor. English central Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English centralism From central + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: цэнтралізм (centralizm) — system that centralizes
  • Catalan: centralisme — system that centralizes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 集中制 (jízhōngzhì) — system that centralizes
  • Czech: centralismus — system that centralizes
  • Finnish: keskusvalta — system that centralizes
  • French: centralisme — system that centralizes
  • German: Zentralismus — system that centralizes
  • Greek: συγκεντρωτισμός (sygkentrotismós) — system that centralizes
  • Indonesian: sentralisme — system that centralizes
  • Italian: centralismo — system that centralizes
  • Lithuanian: centralizmas — system that centralizes
  • Macedonian: централизам (centralizam) — system that centralizes
  • Norman: centralisme — system that centralizes
  • Polish: centralizm — system that centralizes
  • Portuguese: centralismo — system that centralizes
  • Russian: централизм (centralizm) — system that centralizes
  • Spanish: centralismo — system that centralizes
  • Swedish: centralism — system that centralizes
  • Ukrainian: централізм (centralizm) — system that centralizes