Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The quality of being eccentric.
- n. Deviation from the normal, expected, or established.
- n. An example or instance of eccentric behavior.
- n. Physics The distance between the center of an eccentric and its axis.
- n. 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.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Deviation from a center; the state of a circle with reference to its center not coinciding with that of another circle.
- n. In geometry and astronomy, the distance between the foci of a conic divided by the transverse diameter. The eccentricity of the earth's orbit is .01677, or about .
- n. In ancient astronomy, the distance of the center of the equant from the earth.
- n. Departure or deviation from that which is stated, regular, or usual; oddity; whimsicalness: as, the eccentricity of a man's genius or conduct.
- n. An eccentric action or characteristic; a striking peculiarity of character or conduct.
- n. Also excentricity in the literal uses.
Wiktionary
- n. The quality of being eccentric; any eccentric behaviour.
- n. The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The state of being eccentric; deviation from the customary line of conduct; oddity.
- n. The ratio of the distance between the center and the focus of an ellipse or hyperbola to its semi-transverse axis.
- n. The ratio of the distance of the center of the orbit of a heavenly body from the center of the body round which it revolves to the semi-transverse axis of the orbit.
- n. The distance of the center of figure of a body, as of an eccentric, from an axis about which it turns; the throw.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (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
- n. a circularity that has a different center or deviates from a circular path
- n. strange and unconventional behavior
Examples
“In this case, their eccentricity is demonstrated by the fact that they genuinely could not care less about the reaction of the Chinese government.”
The Washington Post: Nobel Peace Prize reaction: China's angry, the U.S. is subdued
“His eccentricity is kind of admirable but I'd much rather listen to Daniel Johnston.”
“I suppose the band's English eccentricity is rather studied - the bass player is called The House of Lords "because he's big and all all important decisions have to go through him".”
“Hispanic eccentricity is peninsular and consists of the coexistence of different civilizations and different pasts: an inclusive eccentricity.”
“Hispanic eccentricity is reproduced and multiplied in America, especially in those countries such as Mexico and Peru, where ancient and splendid civilizations had existed.”
“The word eccentricity was not interpreted by the cadet, of course, as the Sep meant it should be, but in the sense we use it when we speak of the eccentricity of an orbit for instance.”
Henry Ossian Flipper The Colored Cadet at West Point
“They will allow for *one* "eccentricity" - queer, female, not white - but not more.”
“Americans have always had a tenuous relationship with the idea of eccentricity, unlike our forebears in England, where eccentrics occupy a hallowed part of the cultural fabric.”
Lesley M. M. Blume: Grey Gardens: What We Can Learn From The Edies
“As the French writer Germaine de Staël could observe in 1817: “There is no nation in which one finds as many examples as in England of what is termed eccentricity, that is to say a completely original way of being which takes no account of the opinion of others.””
The Wall Street Journal: When the Offbeat Unsettled Tout Paris
“The first cyclical variation, known as eccentricity, controls the shape of the Earth's orbit around the sun.”
Lists
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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