Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ellipse \El*lipse"\, n. [Gr. ?, prop., a defect, the inclination
   of the ellipse to the base of the cone being in defect when
   compared with that of the side to the base: cf. F. ellipse.
   See {Ellipsis}.]
   1. (Geom.) An oval or oblong figure, bounded by a regular
      curve, which corresponds to an oblique projection of a
      circle, or an oblique section of a cone through its
      opposite sides. The greatest diameter of the ellipse is
      the major axis, and the least diameter is the minor axis.
      See {Conic section}, under {Conic}, and cf. {Focus}.

   2. (Gram.) Omission. See {Ellipsis}.

   3. The elliptical orbit of a planet.

            The Sun flies forward to his brother Sun; The dark
            Earth follows wheeled in her ellipse. --Tennyson.

Source : WordNet®

ellipse
     n : a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a
         circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it;
         "the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on
         an ellipse is constant" [syn: {oval}]