真的擺在桌子中間的那一件
這是字面本身，畫面沒有搬家。
noun · C1
A decoration put in the middle of a table, very often an arrangement of flowers, so that everyone sitting around the table can see it.
桌子中央的擺飾
核心畫面
One way to hold this word is to look down at a set table. Everything on it — plates, , small dishes — has been placed around one thing standing in the middle: a bowl of flowers, three candles, a dish of fruit. That thing is the centrepiece. Two facts come with the picture and never leave it: it sits at the middle, and the rest is arranged around it. Lift the picture off the table and put it over a plan, a show or a building project, and the same two facts do all the work.
可以想成低頭看一張擺好的桌子。盤子、筷子、小菜，全都是繞著中間那一樣東西排的——一盆花、三根蠟燭、一碟水果。那一樣就…更多收起
可以想成低頭看一張擺好的桌子。盤子、筷子、小菜，全都是繞著中間那一樣東西排的——一盆花、三根蠟燭、一碟水果。那一樣就是 centrepiece。這個畫面帶著兩件事，而且從來不會掉：它在正中間，其他東西繞著它排。把這張畫面從桌子上拿起來，蓋到一個計畫、一場表演、一項工程上，靠的還是同樣這兩件事。From the word’s history
centre + piece: the piece that goes in the middle.
centre（中央）加上 piece（一件東西）：放在中間的那一件。
Wiktionary entry for centrepiece (packet etymology_text): 'From centre + piece.'
Two branches
一件事情的正中間
桌子換成計畫或活動，但「在中間、別的繞著它」這兩件事原封不動地帶過去。
noun · C1
The most important, most noticeable or most attractive part of something, the part that everything else is arranged around.
核心；最搶眼的重頭戲
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
centrepiecenoun
- 1
An ornament to be placed in the centre, as of a table, ceiling, etc.
- 2
A central article or figure.
- Below is the deep abyss of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and at its head a stately semi-circle of mountains, with the pyramidal Lauterbrunnen Breithorn as the centre-piece.
- A small bottle of sparkling Rhineland wine was the centrepiece; beside it was a large marzipan pastry topped with strawberries.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。