Illustration of ellipse
- F
- F' foci; P
- P'
- P'' any point on the curve; FP + PF' = FP'' + P''F' = FP' + P'F'
ellipse
noun
el·lipse i-ˈlips 
e-
1
a
: oval
b
: a closed plane curve generated by a point moving in such a way that the sums of its distances from two fixed points is a constant : a plane section of a right circular cone that is a closed curve
2
: ellipsis
Did you know?
The Property of an Ellipse
A closed curve consisting of points whose distances from each of two fixed points (foci) all add up to the same value is an ellipse. The midpoint between the foci is the center. One property of an ellipse is that the reflection off its boundary of a line from one focus will pass through the other. As a result, in an elliptical room, a person whispering at one focus is easily heard by someone at the other. An oval may or may not fit the definition of an ellipse.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web It’s because Earth orbits the Sun in a slight ellipse. 
Jamie Carter, Forbes, 3 July 2022 The final garden is laid out in an ellipse that spans the full width of the property and is home to flowering shrubs native to China, Japan, and Virginia. Victoria Johnson, ELLE Decor, 1 June 2022 There are constantly rallies on the ellipse, Bopp told the court. Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2022 This one had deformed into a long, narrow ellipse, like a flaccid rubber band. Laura Preston, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 And, over the course of each day, an ellipse of light traverses the floor and concrete walls, which were cast in corrugated iron formwork and act as sound diffusers. New York Times, 5 Jan. 2022 For context, an ellipse is just a circle that has been stretched in one direction to give it an oval shape. Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2021 Essentially, just as a circle has an exact center point, an ellipse has two center or focal points. Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2021 The design of the immense campus, a cylindrical tower abutted by an ellipse, is meant to represent the transition of Western civilization from centralized power to democracy. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2021 See More
Jamie Carter, Forbes, 3 July 2022 The final garden is laid out in an ellipse that spans the full width of the property and is home to flowering shrubs native to China, Japan, and Virginia. Victoria Johnson, ELLE Decor, 1 June 2022 There are constantly rallies on the ellipse, Bopp told the court. Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2022 This one had deformed into a long, narrow ellipse, like a flaccid rubber band. Laura Preston, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 And, over the course of each day, an ellipse of light traverses the floor and concrete walls, which were cast in corrugated iron formwork and act as sound diffusers. New York Times, 5 Jan. 2022 For context, an ellipse is just a circle that has been stretched in one direction to give it an oval shape. Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2021 Essentially, just as a circle has an exact center point, an ellipse has two center or focal points. Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2021 The design of the immense campus, a cylindrical tower abutted by an ellipse, is meant to represent the transition of Western civilization from centralized power to democracy. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Greek elleipsis
First Known Use
circa 1753, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
ellipse
noun
el·lipse i-ˈlips
: a shape that looks like a flattened circle
ellipse
noun
as in oval
a shape that resembles a flattened circle The teacher drew an ellipse on the chalkboard that intended to illustrate the moon's orbit around the Earth. Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- oval
- egg
- orb
- loop
- spheroid
- sphere
- ball
- globe
- bead
- circle
- globule
- round
- circlet
- cirque
- roundel
- ringlet
- ring
- clump
- chunk
- nugget
- hunk
- gob
- rondure
- wad
- lump
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- square
- block
- rectangle
- cube