ellipsoid

[ih-lip-soid] Origin

el·lip·soid

[ih-lip-soid]
noun
1.
Geometry. a solid figure all plane sections of which are ellipses or circles. Typical equation: (x2/a2) + (y2/b2) + (z2/c2) = 1.
adjective

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Ellipsoid is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

Origin:
1715–25; < French ellipsoïde. See ellipse, -oid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
ellipsoid (ɪˈlɪpsɔɪd)
 
n
a.  a geometric surface, symmetrical about the three coordinate axes, whose plane sections are ellipses or circles. Standard equation: x²/a² + y²/b² + z²/c² = 1, where ±a, ±b, ±c are the intercepts on the x-, y-, and z- axes
 b.  a solid having this shape: the earth is an ellipsoid
 
ellipsoidal
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

ellipsoid
1721 (n.); 1861 (adj.), from ellipse + see -oid.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
ellipsoid   (ĭ-lĭp'soid')  Pronunciation Key 
A three-dimensional geometric figure resembling a flattened sphere. Any cross section of an ellipsoid is an ellipse or circle. An ellipsoid is generated by rotating an ellipse around one of its axes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

ellipsoid

closed surface of which all plane cross sections are either ellipses or circles. An ellipsoid is symmetrical about three mutually perpendicular axes that intersect at the centre

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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