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ellipsoid.

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.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd/UK/ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US/əˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US/iˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US
  1. 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.

  2. Such a surface used as a model of the shape of the earth.

    Here the geoid is thirty meters below the ellipsoid.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English ellipse Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English ellipsoid From ellipse + -oid.

adj/ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd/UK/ɪˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US/əˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US/iˈlɪp.sɔɪd/US
  1. Shaped like an ellipse; elliptical.

  2. Of or pertaining to an ellipse; elliptic.

  3. Having the tridimensional shape of an ellipse rotated on its long axis.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English ellipse Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English ellipsoid From ellipse + -oid.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.