Elliptical

How to spell elliptical

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce elliptical

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does elliptical mean?

1. adjectiveShaped like an ellipse; oval and slightly flattened rather than perfectly circular.
2. adjectiveOf speech or writing: so compressed or with so much left unsaid that the meaning is hard to follow.

Elliptical in a sentence

• The planet follows an elliptical orbit around the sun.

• His elliptical replies left the committee unsure of his real position.

• The architect designed an elliptical window above the door.

• The memo was so elliptical that staff had to guess at its intent.

Where does elliptical come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek elleipsis, meaning 'a falling short' or 'an omission', which was built from the verb elleipein, 'to leave out' or 'fall short', a compound of en- 'in' and leipein 'to leave'. The ancient mathematician Apollonius of Perga applied the related term to a conic section because, in his geometry of cones, this curve fell short of forming a complete right angle, hence the sense of 'deficiency'. From the Latin ellipsis and the noun ellipse, English formed the adjective elliptical in the seventeenth century to describe anything shaped like that oval curve. A second, parallel sense grew from the grammatical ellipsis, the deliberate omission of words, so that 'elliptical' also came to mean compressed, sparing, or hard to follow. The double 'l' and the 'ip' in the middle reflect that Greek leipein root, and the same family gives us the three dots of an ellipsis that mark words left out.

How the word is built

• ellipt- (from Greek elleipsis: a falling short, omission)
• -ical (adjective suffix)