entry
ellipse
/iˈlɪps/Closed curve with two foci
From Greek elleip- (to fall short).
from Latin ellipsis "ellipse," also, "a falling short, deficit,"
+1 more sourcefrom French ellipse (17c.)
+1 more sourcefrom French ellipse (17c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin ellipsis "ellipse," also, "a falling short, deficit,"
+1 more sourcefrom French ellipse (17c.)
+1 more sourcefrom French ellipse (17c.)
+1 more sourceThis is one of those geometric words that started out sounding like bad news. In Greek, ἔλλειψις meant a “falling short,” and Apollonius of Perga applied it in the 3rd century BCE to a cone cut at a shallow angle—literally a shape that doesn’t quite make the full circle it seems to promise. Latin kept the word as ellipsis, French polished it into ellipse, and English picked it up in 1753 with the mathematicians. That’s why ellipse has a tiny built-in drama: it sits beside ellipsis, the punctuation mark for something left out, and both whisper the same idea of incompleteness. A circle is the perfect, smug cousin; an ellipse is what happens when the shape has to make do.
The Story
This is one of those geometric words that started out sounding like bad news. In Greek, ἔλλειψις meant a “falling short,” and Apollonius of Perga applied it in the 3rd century BCE to a cone cut at a shallow angle—literally a shape that doesn’t quite make the full circle it seems to promise. Latin kept the word as ellipsis, French polished it into ellipse, and English picked it up in 1753 with the mathematicians. That’s why ellipse has a tiny built-in drama: it sits beside ellipsis, the punctuation mark for something left out, and both whisper the same idea of incompleteness. A circle is the perfect, smug cousin; an ellipse is what happens when the shape has to make do.
Kin & Kindred
From 'elleip-'·to fall short; omission, deficiency
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary