| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024ep•i•cy•cle (ep′ə sī′kəl),USA pronunciation n. - Astronomya small circle the center of which moves around in the circumference of a larger circle: used in Ptolemaic astronomy to account for observed periodic irregularities in planetary motions.
- Mathematicsa circle that rolls, externally or internally, without slipping, on another circle, generating an epicycloid or hypocycloid.
- Greek epíkyklos. See epi-, cycle
- Late Latin epicyclus
- Middle French
- 1350–1400; Middle English
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: epicycle /ˈɛpɪˌsaɪkəl/ n - a circle that rolls around the inside or outside of another circle, so generating an epicycloid or hypocycloid
Etymology: 14th Century: from Late Latin epicyclus, from Greek epikuklos; see epi-, cycleepicyclic /ˌɛpɪˈsaɪklɪk -ˈsɪklɪk/, ˌepiˈcyclical adj |