ell 
elina, elna, MHG. eline, elne, ellen, G. die = Icel. 
alin = Sw. aln = Dan. alen = Goth, aleina (for 
'alina^), an ell, whence It. auna, F. aunc, an 
ell; orig. the forearm (as in AS. eln-boga, E. 
elbow), = L. wtoo, the forearm, the elbow, an ell, 
= Gr. uUvri, the forearm: see elbow, ulna.] A 
long measure, chiefly used for cloth. The English 
ell, not yet obsolete, is a yard and a quarter, or 45 inches. 
This unit seems to have been imported from France un- 
der the Tudors ; and a statute of 1409 recognizes no dif- 
ference between the ell (aune) and the yard (verge). The 
Scotch ell was 37 Scotch inches, or 37.0958 English inches. 
The so-called Flemish ell differed in different places, but 
averaged 27.4 English inches. Other well-ascertained ells 
were the following : ell of Austria, 30.676 English inches ; 
of Bavaria, 32.702 inches ; of Bremen, 22.773 inches ; of 
Cassel, 22.424 inches; of France, 47.245 inches; of Poland, 
22.650 inches ; of Prussia, 28.259 inches ; of Saxony, 22.257 
inches; of Sweden, 23.378 inches. The ell of Holland 
is now the meter. See cubit, pik, endazeh, kut, braccio, 
khaleb. 
He was, I must "tell you, but seven foot high, 
And, may be, an ell in the waste. 
Jiobin Hood and Little John (Child's Ballads, V. 221). 
0, here's a wit of cheverel that stretches from an inch 
narrow to an ell broad ! Shak., R. and J., ii. 4. 
She [the world] boasts a kernel, and bestows a shell ; 
Performs an inch of her fair promis'd ell. 
Quarks, Emblems, i. 7. 
ell 2 , el 2 (el), n. [< ME. *el, < AS. el, < L. el, the 
name of the letter L, < e, the usual assistant 
vowel, + -1; a L. formation, the Gr. name be- 
ing ?.anf)6a.~\ 1. The name of the letter L, I, 
It is rarely so written, the symbol being used 
instead. 2. An addition to or wing of a house 
which gives it the shape of the capital letter L. 
3. A pipe-connection changing the direction 
at right angles. 
ellachick (el'a-chik), n. [Nesqually Ind. el-la- 
chick.] A tortoise of the family Clemmyidce, 
Chelopus marmoratus, it is usually about 7 or 8 
inches long, and is the most important economic tortoise 
of the Pacific coast of the United States ; it lives in rivers 
and ponds, and lays its eggs in June. It is always on sale 
in the San Francisco market, and is highly esteemed for 
food, although inferior to the sea-turtle. 
ellagic (e-laj'ik), a. [< *ellag, an arbitrary 
transposition of F. galle, gall, + -ic.] Pertaining 
to or derived from gallnuts Ellagic acid, C^Hs 
09, an acid which may be prepared from gallic acid, out 
is procured in largest quantities from the Oriental be- 
zoars. Pure ellagic acid is a light, pale-yellow, tasteless 
powder, shown by the microscope to consist of transparent 
prisms. With the bases it forms salts. Also called be- 
zoartlic acid. 
ell-bone (el'bon), n. [< eTfl- (taken in its orig. 
sense, AS. eln = L. ulna) + bone 1 . Of. elbow.] 
The bone of the forearm ; the ulna. 
elleboret, An obsolete variant of hellebore. 
Chaucer. 
elleborin (el'e-bo-riu), n. [< L. elleborus, helle- 
borus, + -in: see hellebore.'] A resin of an ex- 
tremely acrid taste, found in the Helleborus hie- 
malis, or winter hellebore. 
elleck (el'ek), n. [E. dial. ; origin unknown. 
Of. Elleck, Ellick, Ellek, etc., colloquial abbre- 
viations of Alexander.] A local English name 
of the red gurnard, Trigla cuculus. 
eller 1 (el'er), n. A dialectal form of elder 2 . 
eller 2 (el'er), n. A dialectal form of alder 1 . 
Ellerian (e-le'ri-an), n. A member of a sect 
of German Millenarians of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, founded by Elias Eller (died 1750). The 
Ellerians expected the Messiah to be born again of the 
wife of their leader, whose professed revelations they ac- 
cepted as of equal authority with the Bible. From Rons- 
Jor/, the place of their settlement, they are also called 
Jionsdorjlane. 
ellern, a. A dialectal form of aldern. 
ellest, adv. A Middle English form of else. 
ellipochoanoid (el"i-po-ko'a-noid), a. and n. 
[See Ellipochoanoida.] I. a. Having incom- 
plete septal funnels ; specifically, of or pertain- 
ing to the Ellipochoanoida. Also ellipochoanoi- 
dal. 
II. . A member of the Ellipochoanoida. 
Ellipochoanoida (el*i-po-k6-a-noi'da), n. pi. 
eiL ., < Gr. e/Ucrfo, omitting, falling short (< &- 
reu>, omit, fall short: see ellipse), + x^ v 1, a 
funnel, + -ida.] A group of nautiloid ceph- 
alopods whose septal funnels are short, the 
siphon being completed by means of a more or 
less porous intervening connective wall : con- 
trasted with Holochoanoida. A. Hyatt, Proe. 
Host. Soc. Nat. Hist., XXII. 260. 
ellipochoanoidal (el"i-po-k6-a-noi'dal), a. 
Same as ellipochoanoid. 
ellipse (e-lips'), n. [= D. Sw. ellips = G. Dan. 
ellipse = F. ellipse = Sp. elifise = Pg. ellipse = 
It. ellisse, eltise, ellipse, < L. ellipsis, a want, 
defect, an ellipse, < Gr. i/J,eiipif, a leaving out, 
ellipsis in grammar, a falling short, the conic 
section ellipse (see def.), < e/falrretv, leave in, 
leave behind, omit, intr. fall short, < h, in, + 
M 
Ellipse. 
f and F' are the foci. FAf + 
MF = FM' + M F , M and M' 
being any points in the curve. 
1880 
teiireiv, leave. Of. ellipsis.] In geom., a plane 
curve such that the sums of the distances of 
each point in its periphery from two fixed points, 
the foci, are equal. It is a conic section (see conic) 
formed by the intersection of a cone by a plane which cuts 
obliquely the axis and the opposite sides of the cone. The 
ellipse is a conic which does not extend to infinity, and 
whose intersections with the line at infinity are imaginary. 
Every ellipse has a center, 
which is a point such that it 
bisects every chord passing 
through it. Such chords are 
called diameters of the el- 
lipse. A pair of conjugate 
diameters bisect, each of 
them, all chords parallel to 
the other. The longest di- 
ameter is called the trans- 
verse axu, also the la- 
tus transversum; it passes 
through the foci. The 
shortest diameter is called 
the conjugate axis. The ex- 
tremities of the transverse axis are called the vertices. (See 
conic, eccentricity, angle.) An ellipse may also be regard- 
ed as a flattened circle that is, as a circle all the chords 
of which parallel to a given chord have been shortened in 
a fixed ratio by cutting off equal lengths from the two ex- 
tremities. The two lines from the foci to any point of an 
ellipse make equal angles with the tangent at that point. 
To construct an ellipse, assume any line whatever, AB, to be 
what is called the latus rectum. At its extremity erect the 
perpendicular AD of any length, called the latus transver- 
sum (transverse axis). Connect BD, and complete the rect- 
angle DABK. From 
any point L, on the 
line AD, erect the per- 
gn< Ik'iila r I ./, cutting 
K in Z and BD in H. 
Draw a line HG, com- 
pleting the rectan- 
gle ALHG. There are 
now two points, E and 
E', on the line LZ, such 
that the square on LE 
or LE' is equal to the 
rectangle ALHG. The 
locusofallsuch points, 
found by taking L at 
different placeson the line AD, forms an ellipse. [The name 
ellipse in its Greek form was given to the curve, which had 
been previously called the section of the acute-angled cone, 
by Apollonius of Perga. called by the Greeks "the great 
geometer." The participle e'AAeuruy, "falling short," had 
long been technically applied to a rectangle one of whose 
sides coincides with a part of a given line (see Euclid, VI. 
11). So irapa/3oAAei>- and virep^aAAtii' (Euclid, VI. 28, 29) 
were said of a rectangle whose side extends just as far and 
overlaps respectively the extremity of a given line. Apol- 
lonius first denned the conic sections by plane construc- 
tions, using the latus rectum and latus transversum (trans- 
verse axis), as above. The ellipse was so called by him 
because, since the point L lies between A and D, the rect- 
angle ALHG "falls short" of the latus rectum AB. In 
the case of the hyperbola L lies cither to the left of A or 
to the right of D, and the rectangle ALHG "overlaps" the 
latus rectum. In the case of the parabola there is*no la- 
tus transversum, but the line BK. extends to infinity, and 
the rectangle equal to the square of the ordinate has the 
latus rectum for one side.] Cubical ellipse. See eu&i'- 
caj. Focal ellipse. See .focal. Infinite ellipse. Same 
as elliptois. Logarithmic ellipse, the section of an el- 
liptic cylinder by a paraboloid. Booth, 1852. 
ellipsis (e-lip'sis), n.; pi. ellipses (-sez). [= D. 
Sw. ellips = Gr. Dan. ellipse = F. ellipse = Sp. 
clipsis = Pg. ellipse = It. ellisse, elisse, < L. ellip- 
sis, < Gr. /l/ii/ttf, omission, ellipsis: see ellipse.] 
1. In gram., omission; a figure of syntax by 
which a part of a sentence or phrase is used 
for the whole, by the omission of one or more 
words, leaving the full form to be understood 
or completed by the reader or hearer : as, "the 
heroic virtues I admire," for " the heroic vir- 
tues which I admire"; "prythee, peace," for 
"/pray thee, hold thy peace." 2. In print- 
ing, a mark or marks, as ,***,. . . , de- 
noting the omission or suppression of letters 
(as in k # for king) or of words. 3f. In geom., 
an ellipse. 
When a right cone is cut quite through by an inclinm--' 
plane, the figure produced by the section agrees well with 
the received notion of an ellipsis, in which the diameters 
are of an unequal length. Boyle, Works, IV. 464. 
ellipsograph (e-lip'so-graf), n. [Prop, ellipto- 
graph; < Gr. e~Atenpif'(*e/.).eiirT-), ellipse (see el- 
lipse), + ypaifiuv, write.] An instrument for de- 
scribing ellipses; a trammel. Alsoelliptograph. 
ellipsoid (e-lip'soid), n. [< Gr. eU^if, ellipse, 
+ ilSof, form.] In geom., a solid figure all plane 
sections of which are ellipses or circles Axes 
of an ellipsoid. See axisi. Central ellipsoid, an el- 
lipsoid having its center at the center of mass of a body, 
its axes coincident with the principal axes and propor- 
tional to the radii of gyration about them. Ellipsoid of 
expansion. See strain-ellipsoid, below. Ellipsoid of 
gyration, an ellipsoid such that the perpendicular from 
Its center to any'tangent plane is equal to the radius of 
gyration of a given body about that axis. Ellipsoid of 
inertia. Same as rllipmid of miration. Ellipsoid of 
revolution, the surface generated by the rotation of an 
ellipse about one of its axes. When the rotation is about 
the major axis, the ellipsoid is prolate ; when about the 
minor, the ellipsoid is oblate. Equimomental ellip- 
soid, an ellipsoid whose moments of inertia about all axes 
Ellopia 
are the same as those of a given body. Momenta! el- 
lipsoid, or Inverse ellipsoid of inertia, a surface of 
which every radius vector is inversely proportional to the 
radius of gyration of the body about that radius vector 
as an axis. This is sometimes called Poinsot's ellipsoid, 
though invented by Cauchy. Reciprocal ellipsoid of 
expansion, the surface of which each radius vector is in- 
versely proportional to the square root of the linear ex- 
pansion in the same direction. Strain-ellipsoid, or el- 
lipsoid of expansion, the ellipsoid into which any strain 
transforms any infinitesimal sphere in a body. 
ellipsoidal (el-ip-soi'dal), a. Of the form of an 
ellipsoid. 
elliptic, elliptical (e-lip'tik, -ti-kal), a. [= F. 
elliptique = Sp. eliptico = Pg. elliptico = It. el- 
littico, elittico (cf. D. G. elliptisch Dan. Sw. 
elliptisk), < ML. ellipticus, < Gr. cUcmTiK6f, in 
ellipse. [Elliptical is the more common form 
except in technical uses, and is frequent in 
them.] 
In horses, oxen, goats, sheep, the pupil of the eye is el- 
liptical, the transverse axis being horizontal. 
raley, Nat. Theol., xit 
2. Pertaining to or marked by ellipsis; defec- 
tive ; having a part left out. 
In all matters they [early writers] affected curt phrases : 
and it has been observed that even the colloquial style was 
barbarously elliptical. 1. D 'Israeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 352. 
His [Thucydides's] mode of reasoning is singularly ellip- 
tical; in reality most consecutive, yet in appearance of- 
ten incoherent. Alacaulay, Athenian Orators. 
Production and productive are, of course, elliptical ex- 
pressions, involving the idea of a something produced ; 
but this something, in common apprehension, I conceive 
to be, not utility, but wealth. J. S. Hill. 
3. In entom., elongate-ovate; more than twice 
as long as broad, parallel-sided in the middle, 
and rounded at both ends, but in general more 
broadly so at the base: applied especially to 
the abdomen, as in many Hymenoptera. 4. 
In math., having a pair of characteristic ele- 
ments imaginary: as, an elliptic involution. 
Ellipticargearing". See gearing. Elliptic arc, a part 
of an ellipse. Elliptic chuck. Same as oval chuck (which 
see, under chuck*). Elliptic compasses, an instrument 
for describing an ellipse by continued motion. Elliptic 
conoid, an ellipsoid. Elliptic coordinates. See co- 
trrdinate. Elliptic epicycloid. See epicycloid. Ellip- 
tic function, a doubly periodic function analogous to a 
trigonometrical function, and the inverse of an elliptic 
integral. Elliptic integral, an integral expressing the 
length of the arc of an ellipse. Elliptic involution, one 
which has no real double points. Elliptic motion, mo- 
tion on an ellipse so that equal areas are described about 
one of the foci in equal times. Elliptic point on a sur- 
face, asynclastic point; a point having the indicatrix an el- 
lipse; a point where the principal tangents are imaginary. 
Elliptic polarization, in optic*. See polarization. 
Elliptic Singularity, an ordinary or inessential singu- 
larity of a function. See singularity. Elliptic space, 
(a) The space inclosed by an ellipse. (6) See space. El- 
liptic spindle, a surface generated by the revolution of 
an elliptic arc about its chord. 
elliptically (e-lip'ti-kal-i), adv. 1. According 
to the form of an ellipse. 
Reflection from the surfaces of metals, and of very high 
refractive substances such as diamond, generally gives at 
all incidences elliptically polarised light. 
Tail, Light, 27. 
2. In the manner of or by an ellipsis; with 
something left out. 
ellipticity (el-ip-tis'i-ti), . [< elliptic + -ity.] 
The quality of being elliptic; the degree of 
divergence of an ellipse from the circle ; spe- 
cificallv, in reference to the figure of the earth, 
the difference between the equatorial and polar 
semi-diameters divided by the equatorial: as, 
the ellipticity of the earth is yirj. It may also 
without appreciable error be taken as twice the difference 
divided by the sum of the two axes. 
In 1740 Maclaurin . . . gave the equation connecting the 
ellipticity with the proportion of the centrifugal force at 
the equator to gravity. Encyc. Brit., VII. 600. 
elliptograph (e-lip'to-graf), n. Same as ellip- 
sograpli. 
elliptoid (e-lip'toid), a. and n. [< ellipt-ic + 
-oid.] I. a. Somewhat like an ellipse. 
II. M. Same as ellipiois. 
elliptois (e -lip 'to -is), n. [Irreg. < Gr. eifat- 
irrtKoe, elliptic: see elliptic.] A curve defined 
by the equation ay m + " = bx m (a x"), where m 
and n are both greater than 1. Also called in- 
finite ellipse Cubic elliptois. See cubic. 
ellmother (el'muTH"er), n. A dialectal form of 
eldmother. flrockett. [Prov. Eng.] 
elloopa (p-16"pa), n. Same as illttjii. See Bassia. 
Ellopia (e-16'pT-ii), n. [NL. (Treitschke, 1825), 
< Gr. i'Afanjt, f/ot/)'; a fish : see Elops.] In entom. : 
(a) A genus of geometrid moths, having a slen- 
der body, short, slender, obliquely ascending 
palpi whose third joint is conical and minute, 
and entire delicate wings, of one color and not 
