Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having a common center.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a common center: as, concentric circles, spheres, etc.
  • noun One of a number of circles or spheres having a common center.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which has a common center with something else.
  • adjective Having a common center, as circles of different size, one within another.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective geometry Having a common center.
  • adjective physiology (of a motion) in the direction of contraction of a muscle. (E.g. extension of the lower arm via the elbow joint while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles; closing of the jaw while flexing the masseter).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having a common center

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English concentrik, from Medieval Latin concentricus : Latin com-, com- + Latin centrum, center; see center.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English, from Middle French concentrique, from Medieval Latin concentricus, from Latin con- ("with, together") + centrum ("circle, center")

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Examples

  • When it comes to location, the value of properties generally conforms to what I call the concentric circle theory.

    Nothing Down for the 2000s Robert G. Allen 2004

  • SHEPHERD: We often see an intensification phase when we see these regenerating eye walls, what we call concentric eye walls.

    CNN Transcript Sep 10, 2004 2004

  • The portrayal of Bob and his boat could perhaps be said to reach inward -- although this is done through concentration and indirection, not through the tedium of the "free indirect" method -- as well as to expand outward and around Bob in concentric circles of thinly-layered exposition, but it could hardly be said to ever really push forward into a plotted narrative.

    Experimental Fiction 2010

  • As Asian immigration radiated outward in concentric circles from Monterey Park, the culture wars moved to new staging grounds.

    Denise Hamilton discusses Sugar Skull 2010

  • Nearby, a large group of Asians, whites and Hispanics danced and sang in concentric circles around guitarists and drummers, chanting, "Hallelujah" under a banner for the Iglesia Inmaculado Corazon de Maria from Newark, N.J. Terry Perez of Annandale, Va., a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Philippines, called the multiethnic crowd "a little bit of the United Nations."

    Cheers for pope: 'Our country needs to see this' 2008

  • Either way, the site does not show a pattern suggesting that it spread gradually outwards in concentric circles from a central point, as one might expect, he notes.

    Mesopotamian City Grew Regardless of Kingly Rule | Impact Lab 2007

  • Since the Soviet Union was itself largely closed and compartmentalized, the nuclear cities stood within concentric layers of defenses like fortresses within fortresses, like nested Russian dolls.

    How to Get a Nuclear Bomb 2006

  • Since the Soviet Union was itself largely closed and compartmentalized, the nuclear cities stood within concentric layers of defenses like fortresses within fortresses, like nested Russian dolls.

    How to Get a Nuclear Bomb 2006

  • Then, using a very sharp paring knife, cut off the top and bottom, where the shoots and root ends are, and then carefully remove the peel in concentric circles.

    Tigers & Strawberries » It Isn’t Just About the Crunch 2005

  • Arrange the fruit slices in concentric circles over the crumbs, overlapping slightly, still leaving the 2 inch border.

    Tigers & Strawberries » Pastry for Butterfingers 2005

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  • In castle architecture, castles having two parallel lines of defense, the outer wall closely surrounding the inner.

    August 24, 2008