Etymologically
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elliptical

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪˈlɪp.tɪk.əl/[1]
  • US: /ɪˈlɪp.tɪ.kəl/, /əˈlɪp.tɪ.kəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English elliptic + -al.[2][3][4] Elliptic is from Ancient Greek ἐλλειπτικός (elleiptikós, “defective; pertaining to an ellipse”),[2][5][3] through New Latin ellīpticus according to the American Heritage Dictionary,[6] and the Greek adjective comes from ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “a falling short, ellipse”),[6][5][7] from ἐλλείπω (elleípō, “to fall short, leave out”).[2][3] Barnhart instead takes elliptical as formed directly from the Greek adjective with the English suffix -al,[7] and the OED records it (1656) earlier than elliptic (1715).[2] Etymonline traces the Greek verb, through its second part, to Proto-Indo-European *leikʷ- (“to leave”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the shape of an ellipse, or having to do with ellipses: 1656, in Hobbes's Six Lessons.[2][7][8] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date it to the 1650s.[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The word began in geometry, and the grammatical sense followed ellipsis, which had both meanings: from 1778, in Robert Lowth's notes on Isaiah, it described a sentence or phrase that lacks words needed to complete the sense, and a style marked by such omissions.[2][7][3] From 1829 it was also used of the words themselves, left out by ellipsis.[2] Etymonline notes that elliptic stayed mostly technical while elliptical became the common word.[3] Of speech and writing, it came to mean so condensed as to be obscure, and Collins also records the opposite sense, roundabout or long-winded.[10] In the 20th century it was used as a noun, short for an elliptical galaxy (first known use 1936) and later for an elliptical trainer.[8][4]

Timeline

  • 1656 – having the form of an ellipse.[2][7][8]
  • 1778 – in grammar, lacking words needed for the sense; marked by ellipsis.[2][7][3]
  • 1829 – omitted by ellipsis.[2]
  • 1936 – noun, an elliptical galaxy.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Shaped like an ellipse; oval: The comet follows an elliptical path around the sun.[10][8][2]
  2. Having to do with, or marked by, grammatical ellipsis; leaving out words that the reader must supply.[10][8][2]
  3. Of speech or writing, very concise, often so much that it is hard to understand: Her elliptical replies left the committee guessing.[10][8]
  4. Of speech or writing, roundabout or long-winded.[10]

Noun

  1. An elliptical galaxy.[8][4]
  2. An elliptical trainer, an exercise machine on which the feet move in an oval path.[8]

Word family

  • elliptically
  • ellipticalness
  • nonelliptical
  • overelliptical
  • subelliptical
  • unelliptical
  • semielliptical

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins