eccentricity

noun

1. 1

   The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.

2. 2

   The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix.

   “For an ellipse, the eccentricity is the ratio of the distance from the center to a focus divided by the length of the semi-major axis.”

3. 3

   The eccentricity of the conic section (usually an ellipse) defined by the orbit of a given object around a reference object (such as that of a planet around the sun).