Category:Eccentricity

Ec`cen*tric"i*ty, n.; pl. Eccentricities. Etym: [Cf. F. excentricité.]

1. The state of being eccentric; deviation from the customary line of conduct; oddity.

2. (Math.)

Defn: The ratio of the distance between the center and the focus of an ellipse or hyperbola to its semi-transverse axis.

3. (Astron.)

Defn: The ratio of the distance of the center of the orbit of a heavenly body from the center of the body round which it revolves to the semi-transverse axis of the orbit.

4. (Mech.)

Defn: The distance of the center of figure of a body, as of an eccentric, from an axis about which it turns; the throw.