Elliptical

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɪˈlɪp.tɪk.É™l/
• US IPA: /ɪˈlɪp.tɪ.kÉ™l/, /əˈlɪp.tɪ.kÉ™l/

Origin

elliptic + -al, from Ancient Greek ἐλλειπτικός, from ἐλλείπω (elleipō, "I leave out, omit"). Surface analysis ellipse + -ical.

Full definition of elliptical

Adjective

1. In a shape reminding of an ellipse; oval.
• 1876, Edward Roth (translator), All Around the Moon, ,Having admitted that the projectile was describing an orbit around the moon, this orbit must necessarily be elliptical; science proves that it must be so.
2. Of, or showing ellipsis; having a word or words omitted.If he is sometimes elliptical and obscure, it is because he has so much to tell us. -- Edmund Wilson
3. (of speech) Concise, condensed.
• 1903, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Robert Browning, ,Browning's dark and elliptical mode of speech, like his love of the grotesque, was simply a characteristic of his, a trick of his temperament, and had little or nothing to do with whether what he was expressing was profound or superficial.
• early XX c., , by O. HenryHe was called a tramp; but that was only an elliptical way of saying that he was a philosopher, an artist, a traveller, a naturalist and a discoverer.
4. (mathematics, rare) Alternative form of elliptic
5. Being flat and in the shape of a twice-symmetrical ellipse; oval.

Synonyms

• elliptic

Usage notes

In botanical usage, elliptic(al) refers only to the general shape of the object (usually a leaf), independently of its apex or margin (and sometimes the base), so that an "elliptic leaf" may very well be pointed at both ends. A three-dimensional elliptical object is ellipsoid, while an object that is not a perfectly stretched circle is ovoid or obovoid.

Noun

1. (astronomy) An elliptical galaxy
2. An elliptical trainer