epicyclic

[ep-uh-sahy-kuhl]

ep·i·cy·cle

[ep-uh-sahy-kuhl]
noun
1.
Astronomy. a small circle the center of which moves around in the circumference of a larger circle: used in Ptolemaic astronomy to account for observed periodic irregularities in planetary motions.
2.
Mathematics. a circle that rolls, externally or internally, without slipping, on another circle, generating an epicycloid or hypocycloid.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin epicyclus < Greek epíkyklos. See epi-, cycle

ep·i·cy·clic [ep-uh-sahy-klik, -sik-lik] , adjective
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Epicyclic is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Collins
World English Dictionary
epicycle (ˈɛpɪˌsaɪkəl)
 
n
1.  astronomy (in the Ptolemaic system) a small circle, around which a planet was thought to revolve, whose centre describes a larger circle (the deferent) centred on the earth
2.  a circle that rolls around the inside or outside of another circle, so generating an epicycloid or hypocycloid
 
[C14: from Late Latin epicyclus, from Greek epikuklos; see epi-, cycle]
 
epicyclic
 
adj
 
epi'cyclical
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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