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eccentricity

/ˌɛk.sɛnˈtɹɪs.ɪ.ti/

noun

Meaning

  • The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.

  • The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix.

    "For an ellipse, the eccentricity is the ratio of the distance from the center to a focus divided by the length of the semi-major axis."

  • The eccentricity of the conic section (usually an ellipse) defined by the orbit of a given object around a reference object (such as that of a planet around the sun).