oval

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈəʊ.vəl/, US /ˈoʊ.vəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin ōvālis (“of an egg”), or Middle French ovale,^[2][3][4] from Latin ōvum (“egg”) (see ovum).^[2][3][5] The classical Latin word for egg-shaped was ōvātus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Egg-shaped: 1561 in Merriam-Webster,^[5] 1577 in Barnhart and the OED, in John Dee;^[2][6] the noun, an oval figure, 1570, in Dee's preface to Euclid.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Having the outline of an egg on a flat surface is from 1610.^[6] The Oval in Kennington, south London, a cricket ground opened in 1846, takes its name from its shape,^[7] and an oval track for racing is called an oval in American English.^[8] The Oval Office of the American president has stood for the presidency itself since 1942.^[3] Ovalness is from 1727 and ovality from 1823.^[3]

Timeline

• 1561 – oval.^[5]
• 1570 – an oval figure (noun).^[2]
• 1610 – having an egg-shaped outline.^[6]
• 1942 – the Oval Office, the presidency.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Shaped like an egg or an ellipse.

Noun

1. An egg-shaped or elliptical figure or object.
2. An oval track or sports ground.

Word family

• ovally
• ovalness
• ovality
• semioval
• oval of Cassini
• oval window

Related words

• ovum
• ovary
• egg
• ovate

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin