epicyclic

ep·i·cy·cle  (p-skl)

n.

1. In Ptolemaic cosmology, a small circle, the center of which moves on the circumference of a larger circle at whose center is the earth and the circumference of which describes the orbit of one of the planets around the earth.

2. Mathematics A circle whose circumference rolls along the circumference of a fixed circle, thereby generating an epicycloid or a hypocycloid.

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[Middle English epicicle, from Late Latin epicyclus, from Greek epikuklos : epi-, epi- + kuklos, circle; see k^wel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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epi·cyclic (-sklk, -sklk) adj.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

epicyclic - of or relating to an epicycle; "epicyclic gear train" epicyclical