Standard Lemma guide

centromere

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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  • UK: /ˈsɛntɹə(ʊ)mɪə/
  • US: /ˈsɛntɹəˌmiɚ/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The central region of a eukaryotic chromosome where the kinetochore is assembled.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a specialized condensed region of each chromosome that appears during mitosis where the chromatids are held together to form an X shape

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the centromere is difficult to sequence

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kinetochore

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: structure, anatomical structure, complex body part, bodily structure, body structure

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Centromer, corresponding to centro- + -mere (from Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part”)).

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: centròmer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Chinese Mandarin: 著絲粒 /著丝粒 — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Chinese Mandarin: 着丝粒 (zhuósīlì) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Chinese Mandarin: 中節 /中节 (zhōngjié) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Czech: centromera — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Estonian: tsentromeer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Finnish: sentromeeri — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • French: centromère — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • German: Zentromer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Greek: κεντρομερές (kentromerés) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Irish: ceintrimír — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Italian: centromero — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Japanese: セントロメア (sentoromea) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Japanese: 動原体 (dōgentai) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Korean: 중심립 (jungsimnip) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Latvian: centromēra — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Portuguese: centrómero — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Portuguese: centrômero — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Russian: центроме́ра (centroméra) — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Spanish: centrómero — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Swedish: centromer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Turkish: sentromer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Vietnamese: đoạn trung tâm — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Welsh: centromer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome
  • Welsh: sentromer — region of a eukaryotic chromosome