Orbital Eccentricity - Etymology

Etymology

From Medieval Latin eccentricus, derived from Greek ekkentros "out of the center", from ek-, ex- "out of" + kentron "center". Eccentric first appeared in English in 1551, with the definition "a circle in which the earth, sun. etc. deviates from its center." Five years later, in 1556, an adjective form of the word was added.

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