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eccentric

Pronunciation: /ɪkˈsɛntrɪk, ɛk-/

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Definition of eccentric

adjective

  • 1(of a person or their behaviour) unconventional and slightly strange:he noted her eccentric appearance
  • 2 technical not placed centrally or not having its axis or other part placed centrally:a servo driving an eccentric cam
  • (of a circle) not centred on the same point as another.
  • (of an orbit) not circular.

noun

  • 1a person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behaviour:he’s seen as a local eccentric
  • 2a disc or wheel mounted eccentrically on a revolving shaft in order to transform rotation into backward-and-forward motion, e.g. a cam in an internal-combustion engine.

Derivatives

eccentrically

adverb

Origin:

late Middle English (as a noun denoting a circle or orbit not having the earth precisely at its centre): via late Latin from Greek ekkentros, from ek 'out of' + kentron 'centre'

Spelling help

Spell eccentric and the related word eccentricity with a double c.

eccentric in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of eccentric in the US English dictionary

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