ellipticadj.
/ɛˈlɪptɪk/ 1.
a. That has the form of an ellipse; pertaining to ellipses.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > roundness > [adjective] > oval or elliptical
avelong1440
wrongc1440
oval1561
ellipsical1571
elliptical1656
round-long1663
elliptic1715
ovated1752
ovate1760
ovoid1776
ellipsoidal1831
dromic1850
oliviform1857
ellipsoid1861
vesical1865
dromical1875
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [adjective] > of conic section > elliptical
ellipsical1571
elliptical1656
elliptic1715
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [adjective] > two-dimensional > elliptical
ellipsical1571
elliptical1656
elliptic1715
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. iii. §2. 380 If the whole area..of the Elliptic Orbit be imagined to be divided into 360 equal parts.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xii. 262 A building of an elliptic figure.
a1785 A. Parsons Trav. (1808) iii. 36 All others [arches] which I had hitherto observed being eliptick.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 11 These are the steps by which we have risen to a knowledge of the elliptic motions of the planets.
1877 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Integral Calculus (ed. 3) vii. 190 The area of any elliptic sector.
1888 W. W. R. Ball Hist. Math. 292 The rectification of an elliptic arc.
b. That has an elliptic (as opposed to a circular orbit): in quot. = ‘eccentric’.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement in circle or curve > [adjective] > moving in ovals or ellipses
elliptic1806
ellipsing1878
ovalling1922
1806 T. Moore Epistles, Odes 42 Every wild, elliptic star.
2. elliptic integrals: a class of integrals discovered by Legendre in 1786, so named because their discovery was the result of the investigation of elliptic arcs. elliptic functions: certain specific functions of these integrals. (Formerly the term elliptic functions was applied to what are now called elliptic integrals.)
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1845 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. (at cited word) A large class of integrals closely related to and containing among them the expression for the arc of an ellipse have received the name of Elliptic functions.
1876 A. Cayley Elem. Treat. Elliptic Functions 8 sn u is a sort of sine function, and cn u, dn u are sorts of cosine-functions of u; these are called Elliptic Functions.
1881 Williamson in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 63 The epithet ‘elliptic’ applied to these integrals is purely conventional, arising from the connexion of one of them with the arc of an ellipse.
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3. Grammar. Of sentences, phrases, or style: Characterized by ellipsis; = elliptical adj. 2.
4. quasi-n. (nonce-use.)
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1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. xxxvii. 137 They were talking of parabolics and elliptics, and describing diagrams on the table with a wet finger.
Compounds
C1.
elliptic chuck n. a chuck for oval or elliptic turning.
elliptic compass n. (also elliptic compasses) an instrument for drawing ellipses.
elliptic paraboloid n. a paraboloid having elliptic cross-sections.
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1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 304/2 For the elliptic paraboloid, let a parabola revolve about its principal axis, and let the circular sections become ellipses.
1993 College Math. Jrnl. 24 244 The graph..of this function is an elliptic paraboloid opening upward.
elliptic polarization n. polarization of light or other electromagnetic radiation in which the plane of polarization rotates about the direction of the ray as it progresses, and the amplitude of the vibrations fluctuates (so that the vector representing the vibrations sweeps out an ellipse).
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1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxvii. 225 A new species of polarisation, which I have called elliptical polarisation, and which unites the two classes of phenomena which constitute circular and rectilineal polarisation.
elliptic spring n. (for carriages), a spring formed by two sets of curved plates, forming two elliptic arcs united at the ends.
C2. In definitions of form: (Botany), having a form intermediate between elliptic and lanceolate, etc.
elliptic-lanceolate adj.
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1839 J. Lindley School Bot. vi. 112 Radical ones [sc. leaves] elliptic-lanceolate.
elliptic-oblong adj.
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1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 54 Lower leaves petioled elliptic-oblong.
elliptic-obovate adj.
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1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 417 Rhombic or elliptic-obovate.
elliptic-ovate adj.
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1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 234 Leaves elliptic-ovate.
elliptic-ovoid adj.
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1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 410 Perigynia elliptic-ovoid.
Derivatives
eˈlliptico- comb. form
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1876 J. Harley Royle's Man. Materia Med. (ed. 6) 389 Leaves..elliptico-lanceolate.
1883 St. James's Gaz. 3 Feb. 6 His style..is of the elliptico-interjectional sort.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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adj.1715