Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Centaury

Centaury (sen"ta*ry) , noun

[Latin centaureum and centauria, Greek kentay`rion, kentay`reion, and kentayri`h, from the Centaur Chiron.]

(Botany) A gentianaceous plant not fully identified. The name is usually given to the Erytheraa Centaurium and the Chlora perfoliata of Europe, but is also extended to the whole genus Sabbatia, and even to the unrelated Centaurea.