epicentre
/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə//ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/
epicentre noun: the point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.
Noun
epicentre (plural epicentres)
- The point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.
- The epicentre isn't always the point of heaviest damage. Faults can be many kilometres long and seismic waves shake areas all along the fault.2008, Michael Woods, Mary B. Woods, Earthquakes, Lerner Books, →ISBN, page 18
- The point on the surface of the earth directly above an underground explosion.
- Synonyms:
- ground zero
- The focal point of any activity, especially if dangerous or destructive.
- Eleven months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion, Bakhmut and surrounding areas have become an epicenter of fighting, their importance growing as both sides have added forces to the battle.2023 January 31, Matthew Mpoke Bigg, “Russia-Ukraine War: Russia Pours Fighters Into Battle for Bakhmut”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2023
- The geographical area in which an ongoing disaster, illness, crisis, or other destructive event is currently most severe.
- Yan Cheng had cerebral palsy and died on January 29 while in the care of officials in Huajiahe township, Hongan county, more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.2020 February 6, Laurie Chen, “Communist officials fired after disabled Chinese boy died when relatives were put in coronavirus quarantine”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from...
Verb
epicentre (third-person singular simple present epicentres, present participle epicentring, simple past and past participle epicentred)
- Of an earthquake: to have its epicentre (at a specified location).
- The records of disturbances epicentering closer to the station, notably those of 1914 in Los Santos Province of the Republic of Panama, about 120 miles from Balboa Heights, have usually been less satisfactory than this record […]1916, Canal Record, volume 9, page 28
epicentre meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Arabic and Malay
epicentre in Hindi
- point above earthquake
- उपरिकेंद्र uprikendra
- focal point of activity
- केंद्र kendra
epicentre in Tamil
- நில நடுக்க முனை, நிலநடுக்க நடுவம், நிலநடுக்க மையம், மேன்மையம், மேல் மையம், அதிர்ச்சி வெளிமையம்
epicentre in Arabic
- point above earthquake
- مَرْكَز markaz, مَرْكَز اَلزِّلْزَال markaz az-zilzāl
- focal point of activity
- بُؤْرَة buʔra
epicentre in Malay
- point above earthquake
- epipusat, pusat gempa
More languagesFewer languages
- epicentre in Indonesian
- episenter, episentrum
- epicentre in Thai
- ศูนย์กลาง sŏon glaang
- epicentre in Vietnamese
- chấn tâm, tâm chấn
Synonyms of epicentre
Antonyms
Forms of epicentre
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | epicentres |
| alternative US | epicenter |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | epicentres |
| present participle | epicentring |
| past participle | epicentred |
| past | epicentred |
Origin of epicentre
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.
Words formed from epicentre
Questions about epicentre
- What does epicentre mean?
- Epicentre means the point on the land or water surface directly above the focus, or hypocentre, of an earthquake.
- What is epicentre in Hindi?
- Epicentre in Hindi is उपरिकेंद्र (uprikendra), केंद्र (kendra). See Epicentre meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is epicentre?
- Epicentre can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce epicentre?
- Epicentre is pronounced /ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of epicentre?
- The plural of epicentre is epicentres.
Words near epicentre in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epicentre (page history and authors); epicentre (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-epicentre.ogg, En-uk-epicentre.ogg.
Cite this entry: “epicentre.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epicentre. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.