elliptic integral

noun

, Mathematics.

1. a certain kind of definite integral that is not expressible by means of elementary functions.

Word History and Origins

Origin of elliptic integral¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

If then we have any elliptic integral having algebraic infinities we can, by subtraction from it of an appropriate sum of constant multiples of J1, J2, J3 and their differential coefficients just written down, obtain, as the result, an integral without algebraic infinities.

From Project Gutenberg