omphalos

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Thus, under three different religious systems, Jerusalem, Delphi, and Mecca were held to be each in its turn the omphalos or navel of the world.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun The navel.
  2. noun A central part; a focal point.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (37)

  • The girl was dressed in an alb too large for her and sat cross-legged beside the bronze tripod that supported the sacred omphalos, a waist-high domed rock that represented the navel of the world, the center of the universe. —  The Last Oracle by James Rollins
  • Which roughly translates as “navel.” In ancient Greece, the omphalos was considered to be the point around which the universe turned. —  The Last Oracle by James Rollins
  • Until just recently, everyone thought this was the original omphalos, as described in the ancient histories of Plutarch and Socrates. —  The Last Oracle by James Rollins
  • They circled the omphalos, which smoked like a volcano from the hole at its top. —  The Last Oracle by James Rollins
  • The Greek guardians escaped with the last child and the omphalos, hiding in this valley and absorbing over the span of seven centuries into Indian culture, then that same culture persecuted them and sent them wandering once again, but under a new name. —  The Last Oracle by James Rollins
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Greek; see nobh- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin, from Greek ὀμφαλός, the navel, = L. *umbilus, in derived adjective form as a noun, umbilicus, the navel: see navel, umbilicus.
 

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/ˈɑmfəlɑs/
by American Heritage

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