concentric

IPA/kənˈsentrɪk/
KK[kənsˈɛntrɪk]IPA/kənˈsentrɪk/

concentric — adjective

  • concentricpositive
  • more concentriccomparative
  • most concentricsuperlative

1. Used to describe two or more circles, rings, or curved shapes that sit one insid

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

Used to describe two or more circles, rings, or curved shapes that sit one inside another and share a single middle point.

Example

Paloma drew three concentric circles on the chalkboard to show how the planets orbit the sun.

typical use: concentric circles for diagrams

The wooden target had five concentric rings painted in red and white.

collocation: concentric rings on a target

Common collocations
  • concentric circles
  • concentric rings
  • concentric ripples
  • concentric arcs
Synonyms
  • coaxial

    technical; about a shared axis rather than a shared centre point

  • nested

    broader; can mean one shape inside another even without a shared centre

Antonyms
  • eccentric

    geometrically opposite: shapes that do NOT share a centre

Grammar Patterns

concentric + plural noun (circles, rings, arcs)

Usage Note

Almost always used attributively before a plural noun naming round shapes (circles, rings, arcs, ripples). Rarely used predicatively after 'be'.

Common Mistakes

The two circles are concentric to each other.
The two circles are concentric.
'concentric' takes no preposition; the sharing of a centre is already part of the meaning.

Word family

  • concentrically
    adverbC2
  • concentricity
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Concentric' is the everyday geometric word for two or more round shapes that share one centre point — think of a dartboard, ripples on a pond, or the rings inside a tree trunk. 'Coaxial' is more technical and shifts the focus from a centre point to a shared axis line; engineers use it for cables, drive shafts, and speakers where two parts run along the same line. 'Nested' is broader and looser: nested boxes or nested arcs fit one inside another, but their centres do not have to line up. 'Eccentric' is the direct geometric opposite of 'concentric' — circles that do not share a centre. You would say 'concentric rings on a tree stump' but 'coaxial cable' and 'a set of nested mixing bowls'.

concentric ↗coaxial ↗nested ↗eccentric ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • a set of concentric circles
  • concentric growth rings

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Built in late Middle English from Latin 'com-' (together) plus 'centrum' (the centre of a circle), which itself came from Greek 'kentron' (a sharp point, the fixed pin of a drawing compass). The word literally means 'sharing one centre', a sense it has kept since geometers first borrowed it for circles drawn with the same compass pin.