1.
[syn: oblateness, ellipticity]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ellipticity \El`lip*tic"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. ellipticit['e].]
Deviation of an ellipse or a spheroid from the form of a
circle or a sphere; especially, in reference to the figure of
the earth, the difference between the equatorial and polar
semidiameters, divided by the equatorial; thus, the
ellipticity of the earth is 1/29966.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Some writers use ellipticity as the ratio of the
difference of the two semiaxes to the minor axis,
instead of the major. --Nichol.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
ellipticity
n 1: the property possessed by a round shape that is flattened
at the poles; "the oblateness of the planet" [syn:
oblateness, ellipticity]