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Webster 1913 Edition
Ellipticity
Elˊlip-tic′i-ty
,Noun.
[Cf. F.
ellipticité
.] Deviation of an ellipse or a spheroid from the form of a circle or a sphere; especially, in reference to the figure of the earth, the difference between the equatorial and polar semidiameters, divided by the equatorial; thus, the ellipticity of the earth is 1⁄29966.
☞ Some writers use ellipticity as the ratio of the difference of the two semiaxes to the minor axis, instead of the major.
Nichol.
Definition 2024
ellipticity
ellipticity
English
Noun
ellipticity (countable and uncountable, plural ellipticities)
- (uncountable) The condition of being elliptical (flattened from perfect circular or spherical form)
- (countable, mathematics) A measure of this flattening that is a function of the ellipse's equatorial and polar radii