eccentric definition |Dictionary.com

Browse Nearby Entries

Ecash

eccentric

Sponsored Links Young and Hopeful?
A young man's journey to become a social entrepreneur
youngandhopeful.blogspot.com

7 dictionary results for: eccentric

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ec·cen·tric

[ik-sen-trik, ek-] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd: eccentric conduct; an eccentric person.

2.	Geometry. not having the same center; not concentric: used esp. of two circles or spheres at least one of which contains the centers of both.

3.	(of an axis, axle, etc.) not situated in the center.

4.	Machinery. having the axis or support away from the center: an eccentric wheel.

5.	Astronomy. deviating from a circular form, as an elliptic orbit.

–noun

6.	a person who has an unusual, peculiar, or odd personality, set of beliefs, or behavior pattern.

7.	something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.

8.	Machinery. a device for converting circular motion into rectilinear motion, consisting of a disk fixed somewhat off-center to a revolving shaft, and working freely in a surrounding collar (eccentric strap), to which a rod (eccentric rod) is attached.

Also, especially British, excentric.

[Origin: 1350–1400; < ML eccentricus < Gk ékkentr(os) out of center (see ec-, center) + L -icus -ic

]

—Related forms

ec·cen·tri·cal, adjective

ec·cen·tri·cal·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. strange, weird, bizarre.

—Antonyms 1. normal, regular, ordinary, customary, conventional.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Sponsored Links Young and Hopeful?
A young man's journey to become a social entrepreneur
youngandhopeful.blogspot.com

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.
1. Not situated at or in the geometric center.
2. Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center.

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.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
eccentric

1398 as a term in Ptolemaic astronomy, from M.L. eccentricus, from Gk. ekkentros "out of the center" (as opposed to concentric), from ek "out" + kentron "center" (see center). Figurative sense of "odd, whimsical" (adj.) first recorded 1685. Noun meaning person with such qualities first attested 1832.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

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]

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

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

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

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

n.
A person of odd or unconventional behavior.

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

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.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

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

Eccentric

Ec*cen"tric\, n. 1. A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.

2. One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.

3. (Astron.) (a) In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center. (b) A circle described about the center of an elliptical orbit, with half the major axis for radius. --Hutton.

4. (Mach.) A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw.

Back eccentric, the eccentric that reverses or backs the valve gear and the engine.

Fore eccentric, the eccentric that imparts a forward motion to the valve gear and the engine.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Sponsored Links Young and Hopeful?
A young man's journey to become a social entrepreneur
youngandhopeful.blogspot.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Link to Us · Report Ad · Contact Us