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Ellipse - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Ellipse : (noun)
1: a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a
circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it;
"the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on
an ellipse is constant" [syn: oval]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Ellipse : \El*lipse"\, n. [Gr. ?, prop., a defect, the inclination
of the ellipse to the base of the cone being in defect when
compared with that of the side to the base: cf. F. ellipse.
See Ellipsis.]
1. (Geom.) An oval or oblong figure, bounded by a regular
curve, which corresponds to an oblique projection of a
circle, or an oblique section of a cone through its
opposite sides. The greatest diameter of the ellipse is
the major axis, and the least diameter is the minor axis.
See Conic section, under Conic, and cf. Focus.
2. (Gram.) Omission. See Ellipsis.
3. The elliptical orbit of a planet.
The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun; The dark
Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse. --Tennyson.
Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
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