ellipsoid
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A surface, all of whose cross sections are elliptic or circular.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihlipsoydSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈlɪpsɔɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
mathematicsgeometry
A surface whose plane sections are all ellipses or circles
mathematicsgeometry
A surface, all of whose cross sections are elliptic or circular (including the sphere), that generalises the ellipse and in Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) is a quadric with equation x²/a² + y²/b² + z²/c² = 1.
geography
Such a surface used as a model of the shape of the earth.
adjective
Shaped like an ellipse; elliptical.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A surface whose plane sections are all ellipses or circles
Used this way, ellipsoid is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Mathematics
- Geometry
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ellipsoid
- “The Earth is an ellipsoid.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A shape that is generated by rotating an ellipse around one of its axes.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: shaped like an ellipse
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.