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eccentricity

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
ec·cen·tric·i·ty  (ksn-trs-t)
n. pl. ec·cen·tric·i·ties
1.
a. The quality of being eccentric.
b. Deviation from the normal, expected, or established.
2. An example or instance of eccentric behavior.
3. Physics The distance between the center of an eccentric and its axis.
4. Mathematics The ratio of the distance of any point on a conic section from a focus to its distance from the corresponding directrix. This ratio is constant for any particular conic section.

eccentricity
Noun
1. unconventional or odd behaviour
2. pl -ties an unconventional or odd habit or act

eccentricity  (ksn-trs-t)
1. A measure of the deviation of an elliptical path, especially an orbit, from a perfect circle. It is equal to the ratio of the distance between the foci of the ellipse to the length of the major axis of the ellipse (the distance between the two points farthest apart on the ellipse). Eccentricity ranges from zero (for a perfect circle) to values approaching 1 (highly elongated ellipses).
2. The ratio of the distance of any point on a conic section from a focus to its distance from the corresponding directrix. This ratio is constant for any particular conic section.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.eccentricity - strange and unconventional behavior
strangeness, unfamiliarity - unusualness as a consequence of not being well known
oddity, oddness - eccentricity that is not easily explained
2.eccentricity - (geometry) a ratio describing the shape of a conic section; the ratio of the distance between the foci to the length of the major axis; "a circle is an ellipse with zero eccentricity"
geometry - the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces
ratio - the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)
3.eccentricity - a circularity that has a different center or deviates from a circular path
circularity, disk shape - the roundness of a 2-dimensional figure
concentricity - the quality of having the same center (as circles inside one another)

eccentricity

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
At any rate, it was a harmless eccentricity, and may the god of gales, who took him away so abruptly between New Zealand and the Horn, let his soul rest in some Paradise of true seamen, where no amount of carrying on will ever dismast a ship!
Remarkable anywhere, by his personal appearance, he was still further distinguished among the rank and file of mankind by the harmless eccentricity of his character.
The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule, and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him.
 
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