eccentricity
Meaningthe state or quality of being out of centre
Common meaning: the quality of being eccentric
- ecGreek ek-: out of
- centra sharp point; the fixed point of a circleLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 428 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
‘out of’ + ‘a sharp point’ → eccentricity
Journey through time
- Greekκέντρον‘a sharp point’
- Latineccentricus
- Frencheccen
- Englisheccentric‘odd’
- Englishformed in English from eccentriceccentricity‘the quality of being eccentric’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the state or quality of being out of centre. It can be inferred from any of: eccentric.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from eccentric + -ity (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- κέντρον Greek “a sharp point; the fixed point of a circle”
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