ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Eccentricity

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌɛk.sɛnˈtɹɪs.ɪ.ti/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Eccentricity is a noun meaning The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.

Meaning

The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.

More Meanings

  1. (graph theory) The farthest distance from a vertex to any other vertex.
  2. (geometry) The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix.
  3. (astronomy) The eccentricity of the conic section (usually an ellipse) defined by the orbit of a given object around a reference object (such as that of a planet around the sun).

Example Sentences

For an ellipse, the eccentricity is the ratio of the distance from the center to a focus divided by the length of the semi-major axis.
Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

Word Forms

Antonyms for eccentricity

Common opposites include concentricity.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include quirk, offset, runout, excentricity, oddness, quiddity.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.