- to put out of the center or make eccentric: The goal is to decenter the treatment zone of the eye to align with the line of sight instead of the geometric center of the cornea.
- to remove from a position of priority or dominance so as to give attention and influence to other viewpoints, concerns, etc.: The new version of the test will force high schools to teach history from a perspective that decenters whiteness.The author’s call to decenter the self, to make empathetic leaps toward the other, is unsentimental yet moving.
- to cause (an orbit) to follow a path in which the body being orbited is not at the center: A decentered orbit is temporary—all orbits around a single body become elliptical and centered in due time.
- to shift one’s attention from one’s usual focus or preoccupation: As therapists we must decenter from our own perspective and experience the client through their own way of being in the world.
