elliptical
adjective
- in the shape of an ellipse
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɪˈlɪp.tɪk.əl/ / /ɪˈlɪp.tɪ.kəl/ / /əˈlɪp.tɪ.kəl/
adj
Etymology: From elliptic + -al, from Ancient Greek ἐλλειπτικός (elleiptikós), from ἐλλείπω (elleípō, “I leave out, omit”).
- In a shape of, or reminding of, an ellipse; oval.
“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.”
- 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.”
- Concise, condensed.
“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.”
“He 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.”
- Elliptic.
noun
Etymology: From elliptic + -al, from Ancient Greek ἐλλειπτικός (elleiptikós), from ἐλλείπω (elleípō, “I leave out, omit”).
- An elliptical galaxy.
- An elliptical trainer.