Etymology

ellipse

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Today it means: A closed curve, the locus of a point such that the sum of the distances from that point to two other fixed points (called the foci of the ellipse) is constant; equivalently, the conic section that is the intersection of a cone with a plane that does not intersect the base of the cone. Full definition →

French ellipse ← Latin ellīpsis ← Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἔλλειψις
  2. Latin · learned borrowing fromellīpsis
  3. French · borrowed fromellipse
  4. English todayellipse

From French ellipse. Learned borrowing from Latin ellīpsis, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis). Doublet of ellipsis.

Words from the same roots

Latinellīpsis all →

ellipsis

Ancient Greekἔλλειψις all →

ellipsis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.