Ellipse : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Ellipse	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Ellipse
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ellipse n 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" Synonym(s): ellipse, oval
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ellipse \Ellipse"\, 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.