elliptical
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
elliptical (comparative more elliptical, superlative most elliptical)
- In a shape reminding of an ellipse; oval.
- 1876, Edward Roth (translator), All Around the Moon, Chapter XIX,
- Having admitted that the projectile was describing an orbit around the moon, this orbit must necessarily be elliptical; science proves that it must be so.
- 1876, Edward Roth (translator), All Around the Moon, Chapter XIX,
- Of, or showing ellipsis; having a word or words omitted.
- If he is sometimes elliptical and obscure, it is because he has so much to tell us. -- Edmund Wilson
- (of speech) Concise, condensed.
- 1903, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Robert Browning, Chapter VI,
- Browning's dark and elliptical mode of speech, like his love of the grotesque, was simply a characteristic of his, a trick of his temperament, and had little or nothing to do with whether what he was expressing was profound or superficial.
- early XX c., The Making of a New Yorker, by O. Henry
- He was called a tramp; but that was only an elliptical way of saying that he was a philosopher, an artist, a traveller, a naturalist and a discoverer.
- 1903, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Robert Browning, Chapter VI,
- (mathematics, rare) Alternative form of elliptic.
- Being flat and in the shape of a twice-symmetrical ellipse; oval.
Usage notes[edit]
- In botanical usage, elliptic(al) refers only to the general shape of the object (usually a leaf), independently of its apex or margin (and sometimes the base), so that an "elliptic leaf" may very well be pointed at both ends. A three-dimensional elliptical object is ellipsoid, while an object that is not a perfectly stretched circle is ovoid or obovoid.
Translations[edit]
in shape reminding of an ellipse, oval
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showing ellipsis
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concise, condensed
Noun[edit]
elliptical (plural ellipticals)
