DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 El·lip·tic El·lip·tic·al a.
 1. Of or pertaining to an ellipse; having the form of an ellipse; oblong, with rounded ends.
    The planets move in elliptic orbits.   --Cheyne.
 The billiard sharp who any one catches,
 His doom's extremely hard --
 He's made to dwell
 In a dungeon cell
 On a spot that's always barred.
 And there he plays extravagant matches
 In fitless finger-stalls
 On a cloth untrue
 With a twisted cue
 And elliptical billiard balls!
   --Gilbert and Sullivan (The Mikado: The More Humane Mikado Song)
 2. Having a part omitted; as, an elliptical phrase.
 Elliptic chuck. See under Chuck.
 Elliptic compasses, an instrument arranged for drawing ellipses.
 Elliptic function. Math. See Function.
 Elliptic integral. Math. See Integral.
 Elliptic polarization. See under Polarization.
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 In·te·gral, n.
 1. A whole; an entire thing; a whole number; an individual.
 2. Math. An expression which, being differentiated, will produce a given differential. See differential Differential, and Integration.  Cf. Fluent.
 Elliptic integral, one of an important class of integrals, occurring in the higher mathematics; -- so called because one of the integrals expresses the length of an arc of an ellipse.
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