ellipse
A closed curve, the locus of a point such that the sum of the distances from that point to two other fixed points (called the foci of the ellipse) is constant
Other meanings
the removal from a phrase of a word which is grammatically needed, but which is clearly understood without having to be stated.
Synonyms
- oval
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ἔλλειψις".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “ellipse” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.