Ellipsoid

//ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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."

  2. 2
    a surface whose plane sections are all ellipses or circles wordnet
  3. 3
    Such a surface used as a model of the shape of the earth.

    "Here the geoid is thirty meters below the ellipsoid."

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

Synonyms

All synonyms
ballballoonbladderblobbollbolus

Example

More examples

"The Earth is an irregularly shaped ellipsoid."

Etymology

From ellipse + -oid.

Related phrases

Bessel ellipsoidHayford ellipsoidJacobi ellipsoidellipsoid geodesicellipsoid methodellipsoid of revolutionellipsoid packingscalene ellipsoidtriaxial ellipsoidcartesian coordinatescross section

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.