Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Eccentric \Ec*cen"tric\, a. [F. excentrique, formerly also
   spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center,
   eccentric, Gr. ?; ? out of + ? center. See {Ex-}, and
   {Center}, and cf. {Excentral}.]
   1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line
      of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit;
      pertaining to deviation from the center or from true
      circular motion.

   2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses,
      spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole
      or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same
      center; -- opposed to {concentric}.

   3. (Mach.) Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod
      in a steam engine.

   4. Not coincident as to motive or end.

            His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to
            those of his master.                  --Bacon.

   5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or
      established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed
      sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular;
      anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. ``This brave and
      eccentric young man.'' --Macaulay.

            He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. --Savage.

   {Eccentric anomaly}. (Astron.) See {Anomaly}.

   {Eccentric chuck} (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that
      the work held by it may be altered as to its center of
      motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric
      combinations of eccentric circles.

   {Eccentric gear}. (Mach.)
      (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which
          the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the
          steam engine.
      (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to
          give variable rotation.

   {Eccentric} {hook or gab}, a hook-shaped journal box on the
      end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap.

   {Eccentric rod}, the rod that connects as eccentric strap
      with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric.

   {Eccentric sheave}, or {Eccentric pulley}, an eccentric.

   {Eccentric strap}, the ring, operating as a journal box, that
      encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called
      also {eccentric hoop}.

   Syn: Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic;
        idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.