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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ec·cen·tric       (ĭk-sěn'trĭk, ěk-)  Pronunciation Key  (click for larger image in new window) adj.   Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern. See Synonyms at strange. Deviating from a circular form or path, as in an elliptical orbit. Not situated at or in the geometric center. Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center. n.   One that deviates markedly from an established norm, especially a person of odd or unconventional behavior. Physics A disk or wheel having its axis of revolution displaced from its center so that it is capable of imparting reciprocating motion. [Middle English eccentrik, planetary orbit of which the earth is not at the center, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, not having the same center, from Greek ekkentros : ek-, out of; see ecto- + kentron, center (from kentein, to prick; see kent- in Indo-European roots).] ec·cen'tri·cal·ly adv.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
eccentric 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

eccentric
adjective
1.	conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual; "restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit"; "famed for his eccentric spelling"; "a freakish combination of styles"; "his off-the-wall antics"; "the outlandish clothes of teenagers"; "outre and affected stage antics"
2.	not having a common center; not concentric; "eccentric circles" [ant: concentric]
noun
1.	a person with an unusual or odd personality
2.	a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); "a real character"; "a strange character"; "a friendly eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case" [syn: character]

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

eccentric ec·cen·tric (ĭk-sěn'trĭk, ěk-)
adj.

1. Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern.
2. Situated or proceeding away from the center.

n.
A person of odd or unconventional behavior.

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ec'cen·tric'i·ty (ěk'sěn-trĭs'ĭ-tē) n.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ¹ec·cen·tric
Pronunciation: ik-'sen-trik, ek-
Function: adjective
: deviating from an established pattern or fromaccepted usage or conduct —ec·cen·tri·cal·ly /-tri-k(&-)lE/ adverb

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ²eccentric
Function: noun
: an eccentric individual

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Eccentric

Ec*cen"tric\, a. [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. ?; ? out of + ? center. See Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.]

1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; -- opposed to concentric.

3. (Mach.) Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

4. Not coincident as to motive or end.

His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. --Bacon.

5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. "This brave and eccentric young man." --Macaulay.

He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. --Savage.

Eccentric anomaly. (Astron.) See Anomaly.

Eccentric chuck (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles.

Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to give variable rotation.

Eccentric hook or gab, a hook-shaped journal box on the end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap.

Eccentric rod, the rod that connects as eccentric strap with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric.

Eccentric sheave, or Eccentric pulley, an eccentric.

Eccentric strap, the ring, operating as a journal box, that encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called also eccentric hoop.

Syn: Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Eccentric

Ec*cen"tric\, a. [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. ?; ? out of + ? center. See Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.]

1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; -- opposed to concentric.

3. (Mach.) Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

4. Not coincident as to motive or end.

His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. --Bacon.

5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. "This brave and eccentric young man." --Macaulay.

He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. --Savage.

Eccentric anomaly. (Astron.) See Anomaly.

Eccentric chuck (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles.

Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to give variable rotation.

Eccentric hook or gab, a hook-shaped journal box on the end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap.

Eccentric rod, the rod that connects as eccentric strap with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric.

Eccentric sheave, or Eccentric pulley, an eccentric.

Eccentric strap, the ring, operating as a journal box, that encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called also eccentric hoop.

Syn: Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

eccentric

eccentric: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary