eccentricity

Etymology

eccentric + -ity

noun

1. The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.
2. (mathematics) The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix.
   For an ellipse, the eccentricity is the ratio of the distance from the center to a focus divided by the length of the semi-major axis.
3. (astronomy) The eccentricity of the conic section (usually an ellipse) defined by the orbit of a given object around a reference object (such as that of a planet around the sun).