ellipsoidal

[ih-lip-soid-l, el-ip-, ee-lip-]

adjective

1. pertaining to or having the form of an ellipsoid.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ellipsoidal¹

First recorded in 1825–35; ellipsoid + -al ¹

Example Sentences

We can see that the virions are spherical or ellipsoidal, with “crowns” of spikes on their surfaces.

From Scientific American

They give the mountain’s “ellipsoidal” height — the height of the summit above a smoothed geometric model of the Earth.

From Washington Post

The ellipsoidal shape, roughly 15 feet across and suspended from the ceiling, is composed of 230 chrome-plated aluminum rods poking out from a mirrored sphere, about a third of them tipped with electric lights.

From Los Angeles Times

However, these models do not account for both a polar and an ellipsoidal component being present and influencing each other.

From Nature

It sits in a spherical or ellipsoidal liquid-filled chamber lined with sensory hairs.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• elliptical