Centre or center: which is correct?
Correct
centre (UK) / center (US)
Avoid
center (in UK English)
Avoid
centre (in US English)
Summary
Correct: centre (UK) / center (US) — Avoid: center (in UK English) / centre (in US English). Centre / center = the middle point of something; a building for a particular activity (shopping centre, medical center).
Both spellings are correct in their own variety; pick one and use it consistently.
- Part of speech
- noun / verb
- Source
- Oxford / Merriam-Webster
Why
Oxford: British English keeps the French-derived -re ending in centre, metre, theatre and litre; Merriam-Webster lists the -er spellings (center, meter, theater, liter) as American standard. Both are correct in their own variety.
Examples
- The new sports centre (UK) / center (US) opens in May.
- Please centre the title on the page.
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- Checked against
- Merriam-Webster / Oxford
- Spelling authority
- Merriam-Webster · Oxford English Dictionary / Oxford spelling · SCOWL
- Commonly confused and non-standard forms
- 64
- Dictionary
- Hunspell en_US / en_GB / en_AU / en_CA · Dictionary license: MIT AND BSD (SCOWL combined licence)