different between elliptic vs elliptical

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????????? (elleiptikós), from ??????? (elleíp?, “I leave out, omit”).

Adjective

elliptic (not comparable)

1. (geometry) Of or pertaining to an ellipse.
   • 1995, Patrick J. Roache, Elliptic Marching Methods and Domain Decomposition, page 1,

     In this chapter, the history of solving elliptic problems by direct marching methods is reviewed.

2. (mathematics) Of or pertaining to a broad field of mathematics that originates from the problem of calculating arc lengths of an ellipse.

3. (mathematics, in combination, of certain functions, equations and operators) That has coefficients satisfying a condition analogous to the condition for the general equation for a conic section to be of an ellipse.

4. (botany, of leaves) Oval, with a short or no point.

Synonyms

• (of or pertaining to an ellipse): elliptical

Coordinate terms

• (whose coefficients satisfy a condition): hyperbolic, parabolic

Derived terms

Related terms

• elliptical
• elliptically

Translations

English

Etymology

elliptic +? -al, from Ancient Greek ??????????? (elleiptikós), from ??????? (elleíp?, “I leave out, omit”). Surface analysis ellipse +? -ical.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??l?p.t?k.?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??l?p.t?.k?l/, /??l?p.t?.k?l/

Adjective

elliptical (comparative more elliptical, superlative most elliptical)

1. In a shape of, or reminding of, an ellipse; oval.
   • 1876, Edward Roth (translator), All Around the Moon, Chapter XIX,

     Having admitted that the projectile was describing an orbit around the moon, this orbit must necessarily be elliptical; science proves that it must be so.

2. Of, or showing ellipsis; having a word or words omitted.

   If he is sometimes elliptical and obscure, it is because he has so much to tell us. -- Edmund Wilson

3. (of speech) Concise, condensed.
   • 1903, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Robert Browning, Chapter VI,

     Browning's dark and elliptical mode of speech, like his love of the grotesque, was simply a characteristic of his, a trick of his temperament, and had little or nothing to do with whether what he was expressing was profound or superficial.

   • early XX c., The Making of a New Yorker, by O. Henry

     He was called a tramp; but that was only an elliptical way of saying that he was a philosopher, an artist, a traveller, a naturalist and a discoverer.

4. (mathematics, rare) Elliptic.

Usage notes

• In botanical usage, elliptic(al) refers only to the general shape of the object (usually a leaf), independently of its apex or margin (and sometimes the base), so that an "elliptic leaf" may very well be pointed at both ends. A three-dimensional elliptical object is ellipsoid, while an object that is not a perfectly stretched circle is ovoid or obovoid.

Synonyms

• elliptic

Translations

Noun

elliptical (plural ellipticals)

1. (astronomy) An elliptical galaxy.
2. An elliptical trainer.

Translations