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centaur

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
centaur (sĕn`tôr), in Greek mythology, creature, half man and half horse. The centaurs were fathered by Ixion Ixion (ĭk`sēən), in Greek mythology, king of the Lapithes.
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 or by Centaurus, who was Ixion's son. Followers of Dionysus, they were uncouth and savage, but some, such as Chiron Chiron (kī`rŏn), in Greek mythology, centaur, son of Kronos. He was a renowned sage, physician, and prophet.
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, became friends and teachers of men. Their half-brothers, the Lapiths, engaged them in a battle that was described by Ovid, depicted on the Parthenon, and sculpted by Michelangelo.

centaur

In Greek mythology, one of a race of creatures, part horse and part man, living in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia. They were best known for their battle with the Lapiths, occasioned by their attempt to carry off the bride of a Lapith prince. Centaurs were often depicted drawing Dionysus' chariot or ridden by Eros, in reference to their drunken and amorous habits. Their king Chiron, however, was notable for being civilized, gentle, and the tutor of heroes.


Centaur

(Centaur Technology, Inc., Austin, TX) A subsidiary of Integrated Devices Technology (IDT) founded in 1995 by Glenn Henry. In 1997, it introduced the WinChip, a Pentium MMX-class CPU chip for the low-end market that never caught on. Centaur's designs and the WinChip were acquired by Via Technologies, Inc. (www.viatech.com) in 1999. See WinChip.


centaur
Greek myth one of a race of creatures with the head, arms, and torso of a man, and the lower body and legs of a horse

centaur
beast that is half-horse, half-man. [Gk. Myth.: Mercatante, 201–202]
See : Horse


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On the same principle, even if a writer in his poetic imitation were to combine all metres, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur, which is a medley composed of metres of all kinds, we should bring him too under the general term poet.
This has been figuratively taught to princes by ancient writers, who describe how Achilles and many other princes of old were given to the Centaur Chiron to nurse, who brought them up in his discipline; which means solely that, as they had for a teacher one who was half beast and half man, so it is necessary for a prince to know how to make use of both natures, and that one without the other is not durable.
Hence those strange monsters in lace and embroidery, in silks and brocades, with vast wigs and hoops; which, under the name of lords and ladies, strut the stage, to the great delight of attorneys and their clerks in the pit, and of the citizens and their apprentices in the galleries; and which are no more to be found in real life than the centaur, the chimera, or any other creature of mere fiction.
 
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