One of a race of persons who lived before the division of labor had been carried to such a pitch of differentiation, and who followed the primitive economic maxim, "Every man his own horse." The best of the lot was Chiron, who to the wisdom and virtues of the horse added the fleetness of man. The scripture story of the head of John the Baptist on a charger shows that pagan myths have somewhat sophisticated sacred history.

A fabulous being, represented as half man and half horse.

In Greek mythology, a being with the head, arms, and torso of a man, and the body and legs of a horse. The personification of wisdom and beastliness: the two natures of humankind.

(noun or adjective) Or centaurus (Latin) or Kentaurous (Greek). A being resembling the combination of a human and a horse, as if the head and neck of the horse were replaced with the head, arm s, and torso of the human. Species alternately classified as "Homo Equus" and "Equus Sapiens", possibly "Kentaurous Sapiens". Family unknown.

an object that in some way moves in the general range of the giant planets

an icy planetoid that orbits the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune.

Vehicle for support of unmanned moon probes and other missions

An ``outer planet crosser''. A minor body whose heliocentric orbit is between Jupiter and Neptune and typically crosses the orbits of one of the other outer giant planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The orbits of the Centaurs are dynamically unstable due to interactions with the giant planets, so they must be transition objects from a larger reservoir of small bodies to potentially active inner solar system objects. The Kuiper belt is believed to be this source reservoir.