Centerline

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A line running through the exact midpoint of a structure or design, used as a reference point
2. The principal line that divides an object or space into two symmetrical parts
3. A median line that marks the center of an object or layout for alignment or measurement

Etymology: "Centerline" is a plain compound, built from "center" and "line." "Center" came into English from Old French "centre," which traces back to Latin "centrum" and Greek "kentron," a word for a sharp point, such as the point of a compass or a stake driven into the ground. "Line" comes from Latin "linea," meaning a thread or cord, and that sense of a stretched thread is the root of the modern idea of a drawn line. Put together, the compound describes exactly what it sounds like: a line running through the middle of something. The word's two parts were each fixed in English long before the combination appeared, so it is a straightforward descriptive term rather than a coinage with a single inventor.

Synonyms: midline, median