ellipse

name

1. A park in Washington, D.C., United States.
2. A park in Washington, D.C., United States.
3. A park in Washington, D.C., United States.

noun

Etymology: From French ellipse. Learned borrowing from Latin ellīpsis, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis). Doublet of ellipsis.

1. A closed curve, the locus of a point such that the sum of the distances from that point to two other fixed points (called the foci of the ellipse) is constant; equivalently, the conic section that is the intersection of a cone with a plane that does not intersect the base of the cone.

   “Near-synonym: oval (synonymous in non-technical use)”

2. Alternative form of ellipsis: the removal from a phrase of a word which is grammatically needed, but which is clearly understood without having to be stated.

verb

Etymology: From French ellipse. Learned borrowing from Latin ellīpsis, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis). Doublet of ellipsis.

1. To remove from a phrase a word which is grammatically needed, but which is clearly understood without having to be stated.

   “In B's response to A's question:- (A: Would you like to go out?, B: I'd love to), the words that are ellipsed are go out.”