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ellipsoid

noun

  1. quadric surface that looks like a deformed sphere
L320046 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L336400 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd/ / /əˈlɪp.sɔɪd/ / /iˈlɪp.sɔɪd/

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree English ellipse Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English ellipsoid From ellipse + -oid.

  1. Shaped like an ellipse; elliptical.
  2. Of or pertaining to an ellipse; elliptic.
  3. Having the tridimensional shape of an ellipse rotated on its long axis.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English ellipse Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English ellipsoid From ellipse + -oid.

  1. A surface, all of whose cross sections are elliptic or circular (including the sphere), that generalises the ellipse and in Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) is a quadric with equation x²/a² + y²/b² + z²/c² = 1.

    Polarizability can be imagined as a three-dimensional ellipsoid centred on the centre of the molecule, as shown in Figure 10.4.

    Because only ellipsoids of rotation have been adopted in practical geodesy and surveying and triaxial ellipsoids have been limited to theoretical studies, we will use the term ellipsoid for brevity to mean ellipsoid of rotation.

  2. Such a surface used as a model of the shape of the earth.

    Here the geoid is thirty meters below the ellipsoid.