Elliptic
adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An elliptical function, equation, path, etc.
"The Planetary Paths I trace, / Exploring Realms of boundleſs Space; / Elliptics, Angles, Cubes, and Curves, / In me ſupply the Place of Nerves; […]"
- 1 Of or pertaining to an ellipse. not-comparable
"Novv ſince the Planets move in Elliptick Orbits, in one of vvhoſe foci the Sun is, and by a Radius from the Sun deſcribe equal Area's in equal Times, vvhich no other Lavv of a Circulating Fluid, but the Harmonical Circulation can Account for, vve muſt find out a Lavv for the Paracentrical Motion, that may make the Orbits Elliptick."
- 2 Of or pertaining to a broad field of mathematics that originates from the problem of calculating arc lengths of an ellipse. not-comparable
"elliptic integral"
- 3 That has coefficients satisfying a condition analogous to the condition for the general equation for a conic section to be of an ellipse. in-compounds, not-comparable
"elliptic partial differential equation"
- 4 Oval, with a short or no point. not-comparable
- 5 Of, or showing ellipsis; having a word or words omitted; elliptical. not-comparable
"The message, which is elliptic, could be spelled out as: (Hello) Olive. This is Julian. I am here until you want to ring me."
- 1 characterized by extreme economy of expression or omission of superfluous elements wordnet
- 2 rounded like an egg wordnet
- 3 (of a leaf shape) in the form of an ellipse wordnet
Example
More examples"The academy said he was chosen for his stunning proof of (French mathematician Pierre de) Fermat's Last Theorem by way of the modularity conjecture for semi-stable elliptic curves, opening a new era in number theory."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἐλλειπτικός (elleiptikós), from ἐλλείπω (elleípō, “I leave out, omit”). By surface analysis, ellipse + -tic.
Related phrases
More for "elliptic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.