Odp: Cowpokes and Centaurs -- P.S.

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 112
Date: 1999-10-26

... and, of course, kentron 'needle [= tool for pricking]' (the source of centre) also results from haplology (in this case before the suffix -tron). This reinforces your etymology by demonstrating that the haplological truncation of the "poke" root was the norm when anything beginning with t followed.
 
Piotr