ecaudate 
ecaudate (e-ka'dat), a. [< NL. ecaudatus, < 
L. c- priv. + cauda, a tail: see caudate."] 1. 
In hot., without a tail or tail-like appendage. 
2. In zoiil., tailless ; anurous; not caudate. 
Specifically, in entomology, said of the posterior wings of 
butterflies, etc., when they are destitute of tail-like mar- 
ginal processes. 
Ecballium (ek-bal'i-um), n. [NL., < Gr. t/t/3<u- 
"f.tiv, throw out, < in, out, 4- pcMsiv, throw.] A 
genus of eucurbitaoeous plants, closely allied 
to Momordica. The only species, E. Elaterium, is the 
squirting cucumber, a native of southern Europe : so 
Squirting Cucumber (Ecballiittn Elaterium}, 
named because the fruit when ripe separates suddenly 
from its stalk, and at the same moment forcibly expels 
the seeds and juice from the aperture left at the base. A 
precipitate obtained from the juice is the elaterium of 
medicine, a very powerful hydragogue cathartic. See ela- 
terium. 
ecbasis (ek'ba-sis), n. [= F. ecbase, < L. ecbasis, 
< Gr. /c/3amf,' a going out, issue, event, < /c/3a<- 
veiv, go out, come out, happen, < *., out, + /}at- 
vetv, go, = E. come: see base 1 *, basis.'] An argu- 
ment drawn from the relation of cause and 
effect; especially, an argument for or against 
a certain course of action, such as the passage 
of a proposed bill or law, from a consideration 
of probable consequences. 
ecbatic (ek-bat'ik), a. [< Gr. as if *K/3<m/cof, 
< eKliaiveiv, happen: see ecbasis."] Relating to 
an event that has happened; denoting a mere 
result or consequence, as distinguished from 
telic, which implies purpose or intention. Thus, 
the sentence " Events full out so that the prophecy was 
fulfilled" is ecbatic; but the sentence "Events were ar- 
ranged in order that the prophecy might bf. fulfilled " is 
telic. 
ecblastesis (ek-blas-te'sis), w. [NL., < Gr. CK- 
f}\aoTr/aii;, a shooting or budding forth, < knfiKa- 
aTaveiv, shoot or sprout out, < , out, + /ftaord- 
vctv, sprout. ] In hot. , axillary prolification in the 
flower : a term applied by Engelmann to the 
occurrence of adventitious buds in the axils of 
one or more parts of the flower. 
ecbole (ek'bo-le), n. [NL., < Gr. en/3o?.r/, a 
throwing out'(cK/Jo/i.$ Uyov, a digression), < CK- 
{IdUeiv, throw out : see Ecballium.l 1. Inrhet., 
a digression. 2. In Gr. music, the raising or 
sharping of a tone : opposed to eclysis. 
ecbolic (ek-bol'ik), a. and n. [= F. ecbolique, < 
Gr. ittSfetiw, se. <j>apiuimv, a drug for expelling 
the fetus, < /cj3a TiAsiv, throw out : see ecbole. ] I. 
a. Promoting parturition ; producing abortion. 
II. n. A drug promoting parturition. 
ecce homo (ek'se ho'mo). [L. : ecce, a de- 
monstrative adv. or interj., here (he or it is)! 
lo! behold! prob. prig. *ece, < *e, locative of 
pron. i-s, e-a, i-d, this, he, she, it, + demonstra- 
tive suffix -ce; homo : see Homo.~\ Behold, the 
man : a phrase commonly used to denote Christ 
crowned with thorns, considered as a subject 
for a work of painting or sculpture, from the 
words with which he was presented by Pilate to 
the Jews (John xix. 5). This subject has been fre- 
quently chosen by artists since the fifteenth century, 
among its most celebrated examples being paintings by 
Correggio, Titian, H. Caracci, Guido Reni, Van Dyck, and 
Guercino. 
ecceity (ek-se'i-ti), n. [< ML. ecceitas (occurring 
in the 16th century as a modification of the 
earlier htecceitas, due to the fact that the for- 
mation of the latter word was not understood), 
< L. ecce, lo ! in LL. and ML. an assistant pron. 
or adv., this, here : see ecce homo."] Same as 
hwcceity. 
eccentric (ek-seu'trik), a. and . [Formerly 
also eccentrick; = F, excentriqiie = Pr. excen- 
1828 
trie = Sp. excfntrico = Pg. excentrico = It. cc- 
centrico = D. excentriek (cf. D. excentrisch = G. 
excentrisch = Dan. Sw. excentrisk), < NL. eccen- 
tricus, < LL. eccentros, < Gr. enKevrpoe, out of 
the center, < CK, out, + idvrpov, center: see cen- 
terl.~] I. a. 1. Not located or situated in the 
center; away from the center or axis: as, in 
botany, lateral embryos and the stipes of some 
hymenomycetous fungi are said to be eccentric. 
The astronomers discover in the earth no centre of the 
universe, but an eccentric speck. 
Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 16. 
A complete neural circulation, however, is by no means 
the necessary condition of a sensibility independently lo- 
cated in eccentric portions of the human body such as Mr. 
Lewes supposes. G. S. Hall, German Culture, p. 234. 
2. In med., not originating or existing in the 
center or central parts; due to peripheral 
causes : as, eccentric irritation ; eccentric con- 
vulsions (that is, convulsions due to peripheral 
irritation). 3. Not coincident as regards cen- 
ter ; specifically, in geom., not having the same 
center: applied to circles and spheres which 
have not the same center, and consequently 
are not parallel : opposed to concentric, having 
a common center. Hence 4. Not coincident 
as regards course or aim ; tending to a differ- 
ent end or result ; devious. 
Whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crook- 
eth them to his own ends, which must needs be often ec- 
centric to the ends of his master or State. 
Bacon, Wisdom for a Man's Self (ed. 1887). 
Women's Affections are eccentriek to common Apprehen- 
sion : whereof the two poles are Passion and Inconstansy. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 226. 
5. Deviating, or characterized by deviation, 
from recognized, stated, or usual methods or 
practice, or from established forms, laws, etc. ; 
irregular ; erratic ; odd : as, eccentric conduct ; 
an eccentric person. 
Still he preserves the character of a humourist, and 
finds most pleasure in eccentric virtues. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, iii. 
So would I bridle thy eccentric soul, 
In reason's sober orbit bid it roll. 
Whitehead, On Churchill. 
6. Of or pertaining to an eccentric : as, the ec- 
centric anomaly of a planet ; the eccentric rod 
of a steam-engine. 
In senses 3 and 6 sometimes written excen- 
tric. 
Eccentric angle, in geom., an angle connected with an 
ellipse and defined as follows : Let ABDE be an ellipse. 
Upon the transverse axis 
AB as a diameter erect 
the circle ABFG. Then, 
taking any point on the 
ellipse, as H, let fall the 
perpendicular HK upon 
the transverse axis AB, 
and continue this per- 
pendicular until it cuts A\ 
the circle at the point L 
on the same side of the 
transverse axis AB. Join 
L with the common cen- 
ter, C, of the ellipse and 
circle. Then, the angle 
BCL, reckoned from one 
determinate end, B, of the 
transverse axis, is called 
G 
Eccentric Angle. 
, 
the eccentric angle of the point II. The expression is de- 
rived from eccentric anomaly. Eccentric anomaly. See 
anomaly. Eccentric cam, a circular ;disk used asacam, 
in which the center of rotation is outside the center of fig- 
ure. Eccentric chuck. See chuck*. Eccentric circle. 
Same as II., 1. Eccentric cutter. Seecutteri. Eccen- 
tric equation. Same as equation of the eccenrie(which see, 
underegtm<io/0- Eccentric equator. Same as equant. 
Eccentric hypertrophy of the heart. See hypertro- 
phy. Eccentric place of a planet, its place as seen from 
the center of its orbit. Eccentric theory, a theory of 
the sun's motion which uses an eccentric in place of an epi- 
cycle. Eccentric Wheel, a wheel which is fixed on an 
axis that does not pass through the center. Its action is 
that of a crank of the same length as the eccentricity. See 
II., 2. = Syn. 5. Eccentric, Singular, Strange, Odd, Queer, 
Whimsical, peculiar, erratic. Eccentric is applied to acts 
which arethe effects of tastes, prejudices, judgments, etc., 
not merely different from those of ordinary people, but 
largely unaccountable and often irregular, or to the person 
who thus acts. ' Singular implies that a thing stands alone 
in its kind or approximately so ; practically, the word ex- 
presses some disapprobation : as, a singular fellow or per- 
formance ; while eccentric people are generally the objects 
of good-humored interest. Strange implies that the thing 
or its cause is unknown: as, a very strange proceeding ; a 
strange insect ; but what is strange to one man may not be 
so to another ; what is strange to most or all is singular. 
Odd, unmated, starts from the same idea as singular; when 
applied to personal appearance, it implies singularity and 
grotesqueness : as, an odd figure ; when applied to the mind 
or habits, it is nearly equivalent to eccentric, but is some- 
what stronger : as, he is very odd ; he has odd ways ; when 
applied to actions or conditions, it frequently implies some 
degree of wonder, and is then nearly the same as surpris- 
ing : as, it is odd that he does not write. Queer often ex- 
presses a singularity that is droll. Whimsical is nearer to 
eccentric, applying to one who often acts upon capricious 
and irregular fancies of a rather amusing kind. For con- 
nection with quaint, see ancient. See also wonderful, ir- 
regular, fanciful. 
eccentricity 
Yet in all these scores [of Shakspere's characters] hard- 
ly one , . . is to be found which deviates widely from the 
common standard, and which we should call very eccen- 
tric if we met it in real life. Macaulay, Madame D' Arblay. 
The vulgar thus through imitation err ; 
As oft the learn'd by being singular. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 425. 
Strange graces still, and stranger nights she had, 
Was just not ugly, and was just not mad. 
Pope, Moral Essays, ii. 49. 
What can be odder, for example, than the mixture of 
sensibility and sausages in some of Goethe's earlier notes 
to Frau von Stein, unless, to be sure, the publishing of 
them? Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 296. 
But the old three-cornered hat, 
And the breeches, and all that, 
Are so queer. 
0. W. llolmes, The Last Leaf. 
Birds frequently perish from sudden changes in our 
whimsical spring weather, of which they have no forebod- 
ing. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 6. 
II. n, 1. (a) In anc. astron., a circle having 
its center remote from the earth and carrying 
an epicycle which in its turn was supposed to 
carry a planet. 
Or if they list to try 
Conjecture, he his fabric of the heavens 
Hath left to their disputes ; perhaps to move 
His laughter at their quaint opinions wide 
Hereafter, when they come to model heaven 
And calculate the stars ; how they will wield 
The mighty frame ; how build, unbuild, contrive, 
To save appearances ; how gird the sphere 
With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, 
Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb. Milton, P. L., viii. 83. 
(6) In mod. astron., a circle described about the 
center of an elliptical orbit, with half the ma- 
jor axis for radius. 2. In mech., a device for 
converting a regular circular motion into an ir- 
regular reciprocating rectilinear motion. It acts 
upon the body moved by it through its perimeter like a 
cam, with which it is sometimes classed ; but all its pecu- 
liarities of motion are essentially those of a crank-motion, 
and it may be considered as a crank having a wrist of 
larger diameter than the throw. In the steam-engine it is 
a disk fitted to the shaft, with its center placed at one side 
of the center of the shaft, and it acts to convert the rotary 
motion of the shaft into the reciprocating motion of the 
valve-gear of the cylinder, and thus to make the engine 
self-acting. (See link-motion, reversing-gear, and cut-off.) 
In this sense sometimes written excentric. 
3. One who or that which is irregular or anom- 
alous in action ; a person of eccentric habits. 
Mr. Farquhar added another to his gallery of middle- 
aged eccentrics. Athenaeum, Jan. 14, 1888, p. 60. 
Angular advance of an eccentric. See angular. Ec- 
centric Of the eccentric, a circle whose center is remote 
from the earth (in the Ptolemaic theory) or from the sun (in 
the Copernican), and which carries round iU circumference 
a second circle, called the eccentric, and this again a third, 
called the epicycle, which carries a planet. An eccentric 
of an eccentric was supposed by Ptolemy to explain the 
motion of Mercury, and by Copernicus to explain the mo- 
tions of Mercury and Venus. Tycho suggested such an 
explanation for the motions of Mars. Equation of the 
eccentric. See equation. 
eccentrical (ek-sen'tri-kal), a. Same as eccen- 
tric. 
eccentrically (ek-sen'tri-kal-i), adv. With ec- 
centricity ; in an eccentric manner or position. 
Also excentrically. 
Swift, Hab'lais, and that favourite child, 
Who, less eccentrically wild, 
Inverts the misanthropic plan, 
And, hating vices, hates not man. 
Lloyd, Familiar Epistle. 
eccentric-gear (ek-sen'trik-ger), . In meek., 
a term including all the links and other parts 
which transmit the motion of an eccentric. 
eccentric-hoop (ek-sen'trik-hb'p), n. Same as 
eccentric-strap. 
eccentricity (ek-sen-tris'i-ti), . ; pi. eccentrici- 
ties (-tiz). [= F. excentncite' = Sp. excentrici- 
dad = Pg. excentricidade = It. eccentricita = D. 
excentriciteit = G. excentricitiit = Dan. Sw. ex- 
centricitet, < NL. eccentricita(t-)s, < eccentricus, 
eccentric: see eccentric."] 1. Deviation from 
a center; the state of a circle with reference to 
its center not coinciding with that of another 
circle. 2. In geom. and astron., the distance 
between the foci of a conic divided by the 
transverse diameter. The eccentricity of the 
earth's orbit is .01677, or about &. 3. In 
anc. astron., the distance of the center of the 
equant from the earth. 4. Departure or de- 
viation from that which is stated, regular, or 
usual; oddity; whimsicalness : as, the eccentri- 
city of a man's genius or conduct. 
Akensidewaaayonngman warm with every notion . . . 
connected with the sound of liberty, and by an eccentricity 
which such dispositions do not easily avoid, a lover of con- 
tradiction, and no friend to anything established. 
Johnson, Akenside. 
5. An eccentric action or characteristic ; a 
striking peculiarity of character or conduct. 
