Etymology

From ἵππος ‎(híppos) "horse" + Κένταυρος ‎(Kéntauros) "Centaur". While "horse centaur" may seem redundant, it should be noted that Κένταυρος ‎(Kéntauros) originally referred to a race of people, the Centaurs, who are associated in some myths with the origin of the creature "centaur". This term likely made the distinction between a person of the Centaur race and the creature, until later, when the word κένταυρος simply referred to the creature. Note that while Wiktionary distinguishes between upper and lower case in Ancient Greek words, Ancient Greek did not (minuscules were not invented until the seventh century).

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic) IPA^(key): /hip̚pokénta͜ʊros/

• (1st BC Egyptian) IPA^(key): /hip̚pokɛ́ntawros/