Central describes something located in the middle or near the middle. It can also mean something very important or main to a system, story, or activity.
From French 'central', from Latin 'centralis', based on 'centrum' meaning 'center'. It extends the spatial sense of 'center' to importance and control.
When we call an idea 'central', we’re treating thoughts like shapes on a page—with some in the middle and others pushed to the edges. The word turns importance into a kind of mental geography.
Describing some experiences as “central” and others as “special cases” has often made men’s lives the implicit norm in research, policy, and language. Women’s experiences were treated as peripheral or exceptional rather than part of the central case.
Be explicit about whose experience you treat as central, and avoid assuming a default male subject in examples or case studies.
["core","main","primary"]
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