Meaning of ELLIPSE
| Pronunciation: | | i'lips
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | [n] a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it; "the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on an ellipse is constant" |
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| | Synonyms: | | oval |
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| | See Also: | | circle, conic, conic section | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \El*lipse"\, n. [Gr. ?, prop., a defect, the inclination
of the ellipse to the base of the cone being in defect when
compared with that of the side to the base: cf. F. ellipse.
See {Ellipsis}.]
1. (Geom.) An oval or oblong figure, bounded by a regular
curve, which corresponds to an oblique projection of a
circle, or an oblique section of a cone through its
opposite sides. The greatest diameter of the ellipse is
the major axis, and the least diameter is the minor axis.
See {Conic section}, under {Conic}, and cf. {Focus}.
2. (Gram.) Omission. See {Ellipsis}.
3. The elliptical orbit of a planet.
The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun; The dark
Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse. --Tennyson.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | arc, bow, catacaustic, catenary, caustic, circle, conchoid, crook, curl, curve, diacaustic, festoon, hook, hyperbola, lituus, oval, ovoid, ovule, parabola, sinus, tracery |
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