oval

Etymology

From Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570.

noun

1. An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse.
2. A thing having such a shape, such as an arena.
3. (mathematics) In a projective plane, a set of points such that no three are collinear and there is a unique tangent line at each point.
4. (Australia) A sports field, typically but not exclusively oval in shape.

adj

1. Having the shape of an oval.
2. Of or pertaining to an ovum.
   Every congenital abnormality is doubtless due to a peculiarity in the sperm or oval elements or in their mingling, or to some disturbance in their early development. 1901, Havelock Ellis, Sexual inversion, page 187
   oval conceptions