elliptical
Noun pluralellipticals
Pluralellipticals
- 1Having the shape of an ellipse, or a shape close to one; oval.
The planets travel around the sun in elliptical orbits.
The architect designed an elliptical courtyard ringed by columns.
Similaroval
- 2An exercise machine; short for elliptical trainer.
She switched from the treadmill to the elliptical to go easier on her knees.
The hotel gym has two ellipticals and a rowing machine.
- 3Relating to or showing ellipsis, with one or more words left out.
In the elliptical sentence "She ordered tea, and he coffee," the second verb is understood.
Her elliptical reply, "Tomorrow," left him to supply the rest of the sentence.
Note
This is the sense that keeps the Greek root in plain view: the word comes through elliptic from a verb meaning "I leave out, omit." Grammarians use it for constructions like she ordered tea, and he coffee, where the listener silently supplies the missing verb. When the gap lies in the thought rather than the grammar, it moves toward the condensed, hard-to-follow style.
- 4Of speech, concise and condensed, packing a great deal into few words.
The poet's elliptical style rewards readers who are willing to slow down.
His elliptical remarks at the press conference left reporters guessing.
Similarconcise, terse, compressed, cryptic
Note
Often a critic's word, and not always praise: G. K. Chesterton's Robert Browning (1903) pairs it with dark to describe the poet's compressed manner, which leaves readers to fill the gaps. An elliptical way of saying something is a shorthand that skips steps, and O. Henry uses the phrase with a wink, calling tramp an elliptical way of saying philosopher, artist and naturalist at once.
- 5A galaxy with an oval, ellipse-like overall shape.
The survey classified each galaxy as a spiral, an elliptical, or an irregular.
Giant ellipticals often sit near the centers of galaxy clusters.
Note
Astronomers sorting galaxies by shape set ellipticals beside spirals and irregulars. They appear as smooth ovals of light without a spiral's arms, ranging from nearly round to strongly flattened, and they hold little of the gas and dust from which new stars form.
Less common meaning
- 6Elliptic, in its mathematical uses, where elliptic is the more common form.
Some security protocols rely on elliptical curves defined over finite fields.
In elliptical geometry, as on the surface of a sphere, there are no parallel lines.
Note
Mathematicians normally say elliptic (elliptic curves, elliptic functions, elliptic geometry) and the longer form turns up in these phrases only occasionally, so careful technical writing keeps to elliptic. The name also misleads: an elliptic curve is not an ellipse at all; it takes its name from its link with elliptic integrals.
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Origin
From elliptic + -al, from Ancient Greek elleiptikós, from elleípō ("I leave out, omit").