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epicentre.

The point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/General-American/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə/Received-Pronunciation
  1. The point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.

  2. The point on the surface of the earth directly above an underground explosion.

  3. The focal point of any activity, especially if dangerous or destructive.

    figuratively · proscribed
  4. The geographical area in which an ongoing disaster, illness, crisis, or other destructive event is currently most severe.

    figuratively · proscribed
Where this word comes from

From epi- (“over, on top”) + centre, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”). Sense of “center of an activity (particularly a disaster)” (1908) by generalization from earthquakes, possibly influenced by epidemic.

verb/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/General-American/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə/Received-Pronunciation
  1. Of an earthquake: to have its epicentre (at a specified location).

Where this word comes from

From epi- (“over, on top”) + centre, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”). Sense of “center of an activity (particularly a disaster)” (1908) by generalization from earthquakes, possibly influenced by epidemic.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.