ellipse

ellipse
    n 1: a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a
         circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it;
         "the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on an
         ellipse is constant" [syn: {ellipse}, {oval}]
    

Ellipse \El*lipse"\ ([e^]l*l[i^]ps"), n. [Gr. 'e`lleipsis,
   prop., a defect, the inclination of the ellipse to the base
   of the cone being in defect when compared with that of the
   side to the base: cf. F. ellipse. See {Ellipsis}.]
   1. (Geom.) An oval or oblong figure, bounded by a regular
      curve, which corresponds to an oblique projection of a
      circle, or an oblique section of a cone through its
      opposite sides. The greatest diameter of the ellipse is
      the major axis, and the least diameter is the minor axis.
      See {Conic section}, under {Conic}, and cf. {Focus}.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Gram.) Omission. See {Ellipsis}.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The elliptical orbit of a planet.
      [1913 Webster]

            The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun;
            The dark Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]
    

21 Moby Thesaurus words for "ellipse":
      arc, bow, catacaustic, catenary, caustic, circle, conchoid, crook,
      curl, curve, diacaustic, festoon, hook, hyperbola, lituus, oval,
      ovoid, ovule, parabola, sinus, tracery