Number & MeasureGreek → English
Ellipse
/ɪˈlɪps/noun
A closed oval curve, the shape of a circle viewed at an angle and of a planet's orbit.
The Greek roots
ἔλλειψις
élleipsis
a falling short
λείπειν
leípein
to leave, be lacking
Literally: “a falling short”
The story of the word
Apollonius of Perga named the three conic sections around 200 BC using the vocabulary of Greek area arithmetic: ἔλλειψις, a falling short, for the curve whose square comes up short against the reference rectangle, ὑπερβολή, an excess, for the one that overshoots, and παραβολή, an exact application, for the one that matches. The names describe a comparison of areas, not a shape. Kepler showed in 1609 that planets travel on ellipses, and the word's fame dates from there. The same noun gives grammar its ellipsis, the words left out.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 1753
Same family
ellipsisellipticalhyperbolaparabola
In a sentence
Draw an ellipse with two pins, a loop of string and a pencil held taut.