eccentriceccentric

Eccentric comes from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος ‘not having the earth as the center of an orbit’, from κέντρον ‘something with a sharp point: point, spike, spur’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱen-.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱen-¹uncertain
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱéntrom¹‘pointed tool’reconstructed
3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kéntron¹reconstructed
4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκέντρον¹kéntron‘something with a sharp point: point, spike, spur’
5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἔκκεντρος¹ékkentros‘not having the earth as the center of an orbit’
6. Medieval Latinmoderneccentricus¹
7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600excentrique¹
8. Englishearliest quotation 1807eccentric¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English eccentric
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1807, G. H. Wilson, The Eccentric Mirror: “Such is not the case with Mr. Martin Van…”.