3. The elliptical orbit of a planet.
The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun;
The dark Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse.
Tennyson. Ellipsis
(El*lip"sis) n.; pl. Ellipses (- sez). [L., fr. Gr. 'e`lleipsis a leaving, defect, fr. 'ellei`pein to
leave in, fall short; 'en in + lei`pein to leave. See In, and Loan, and cf. Ellipse.]
1. (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood,
are omitted; as, the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire.
2. (Geom.) An ellipse. [Obs.]
Ellipsograph
(El*lip"so*graph) n. [Ellipse + graph: cf. F. ellipsographe.] An instrument for describing
ellipses; — called also trammel.
Ellipsoid
(El*lip"soid) n. [Ellipse + -oid: cf. F. ellipsoide.] (Geom.) A solid, all plane sections of which
are ellipses or circles. See Conoid, n., 2 (a).
The ellipsoid has three principal plane sections, a, b, and c, each at right angles to the other two, and
each dividing the solid into two equal and symmetrical parts. The lines of meeting of these principal
sections are the axes, or principal diameters of the ellipsoid. The point where the three planes meet is
the center.
Ellipsoid of revolution, a spheroid; a solid figure generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of
its axes. It is called a prolate spheroid, or prolatum, when the ellipse is revolved about the major axis,
and an oblate spheroid, or oblatum, when it is revolved about the minor axis.
Ellipsoid
(El*lip"soid El`lip*soi"dal) a. Pertaining to, or shaped like, an ellipsoid; as, ellipsoid or ellipsoidal
form.
Elliptic
(El*lip"tic El*lip"tic*al) a. [Gr. : cf. F. elliptique. See Ellipsis.]
1. Of or pertaining to an ellipse; having the form of an ellipse; oblong, with rounded ends.
The planets move in elliptic orbits.
Cheyne. 2. Having a part omitted; as, an elliptical phrase.
Elliptic chuck. See under Chuck. — Elliptic compasses, an instrument arranged for drawing ellipses.
— Elliptic function. (Math.) See Function. — Elliptic integral. (Math.) See Integral. — Elliptic
polarization. See under Polarization.
Elliptically
(El*lip"tic*al*ly), adv.
1. In the form of an ellipse.
2. With a part omitted; as, elliptically expressed.
Ellipticity
(El`lip*tic"i*ty) n. [Cf. F. ellipticité.] Deviation of an ellipse or a spheroid from the form of a
circle or a sphere; especially, in reference to the figure of the earth, the difference between the equatorial
and polar semidiameters, divided by the equatorial; thus, the ellipticity of the earth is &frac1x29966.
Some writers use ellipticity as the ratio of the difference of the two semiaxes to the minor axis, instead
of the major. Nichol.
Elliptic-lanceolate
(El*lip"tic-lan"ce*o*late) a. (Bot.) Having a form intermediate between elliptic and
lanceolate.
