ECCENTRIC

eccentric, nonconcentric

(adjective) not having a common center; not concentric; “eccentric circles”

bizarre, eccentric, freakish, freaky, flaky, flakey, gonzo, off-the-wall, outlandish, outre

(adjective) conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual; “restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit”; “famed for his eccentric spelling”; “a freakish combination of styles”; “his off-the-wall antics”; “the outlandish clothes of teenagers”; “outre and affected stage antics”

character, eccentric, type, case

(noun) a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); “a real character”; “a strange character”; “a friendly eccentric”; “the capable type”; “a mental case”

eccentric, eccentric person, flake, oddball, geek

(noun) a person with an unusual or odd personality

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

eccentric (comparative more eccentric, superlative most eccentric)

Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.

Not perfectly circular; elliptical.

Having a different center; not concentric.

(of a person) Deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.

(physiology, of a motion) Against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (e.g, such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).

Having different goals or motives.

Usage notes

• (physiology, of motion): Motions that are eccentric or the opposite (concentric) are classified as isotonic (“having equal tension”), the antonym of which is isometric (“retaining equal length”). See also .

Synonyms

• (not at or in the centre): eccentrical, excentrical

• (not perfectly circular): eccentrical, excentrical

• (having a different centre): eccentrical, excentrical

• (deviating from the norm): eccentrical, excentrical, odd, abnormal; see also eccentric

• (against the contraction of a muscle)

• (having different goals or motives): eccentrical, excentrical

Antonyms

• (against the contraction of a muscle): concentric

Noun

eccentric (plural eccentrics)

One who does not behave like others.

(slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.

(geometry) A circle not having the same centre as another.

(engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.

Synonyms

• (person who does not behave like others): misfit, nonconformist; see also maverick

• (person of bizarre habits or beliefs): crank, odd duck, weirdo; see also strange person

Source: Wiktionary

Ec*cen"tric, a. Etym: [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.]

1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; -- opposed to concentric.

3. (Mach.)

Definition: Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

4. Not coincident as to motive or end. His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. Bacon.

5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. "This brave and eccentric young man." Macaulay. He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. Savage. Eccentric anomaly. (Astron.) See Anomaly.

– Eccentric chuck (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles.

– Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to give variable rotation.

– Eccentric hook or gab, a hook-shaped journal box on the end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap.

– Eccentric rod, the rod that connects as eccentric strap with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric.

– Eccentric sheave, or Eccentric pulley, an eccentric.

– Eccentric strap, the ring, operating as a journal box, that encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called also eccentric hoop.

Syn.

– Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.

Ec*cen"tric, n.

1. A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.

2. One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.

3. (Astron.) (a) In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center. (b) A circle described about the center of an elliptical orbit, with half the major axis for radius. Hutton.

4. (Mach.)

Definition: A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw. Back eccentric, the eccentric that reverses or backs the valve gear and the engine.

– Fore eccentric, the eccentric that imparts a forward motion to the valve gear and the engine.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

ECCENTRIC

Etymology

Adjective

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Noun

Synonyms

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