central idea

noun

plural central ideas

: an important or fundamental idea : main idea:

a

: a crucially important fact, theory, assertion, or opinion in something presented for consideration (such as an essay, work of art, or philosophy)

The central idea of his theory is that the observed light from the supernova consists of two portions …

—Anne Eisenberg

… Christopher Haigh has argued that the educational effort of English Reformers failed to communicate the central ideas of Protestantism to the general population.

—Kari Konkola and Diarmaid MacCulloch

… a research-based philosophy for teaching mathematics. A central idea of the approach is that children do not come to school as blank slates, as many educators suppose. They already have certain intuitive understandings about math, and they can use a variety of fairly predictable strategies to solve problems …

—Debra Viadero

sometimes, specifically : the single idea in an essay, composition, speech, etc. that all other elements are meant to support or explain

This is what I recommend—read the passage once quickly in order to understand the central idea.

—Saumya Jain

The central idea should be expressed in one sentence. All other supporting paragraphs and sentences should relate to this central idea.

—Laurel W Garver et al.

b

: a primary goal or intention

… the idea of keeping professionalism at a minimum. "We aren't awfully serious," says [musician Paul] McCartney. … "It's becoming a central idea of the group—to be not so precious."

—Chris Mundy

The central idea of international humanitarian law … has been to reduce the human suffering in war as much as possible and to separate this task from the prevention of war itself.

—Richard Falk

Word History

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined above