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n. 1. Greek Mythology One of a race of monsters having the head, arms, and trunk of a man and the body and legs of a horse. 2. Astronomy Any of a group of icy asteroids that orbit the sun primarily in the region between Jupiter and Neptune, whose orbits they cross. Some centaurs appear to be more like comets than asteroids. [Middle English, from Latin Centaurus, from Greek Kentauros. Sense 2, from the official convention of naming such objects after the centaurs of Greek mythology, a practice derived from the fact that the first such object to be observed was named after CHIRON.]  (click for a larger image) centaurc. 900 bc Lefkandi centaur of Greece |
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