eccentric

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Behaving in a strange or unusual way; unconventional.

   Her eccentric uncle kept a pet parrot that rode on his shoulder.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who behaves in a strange or unusual way.

   The old artist was a well-known eccentric in the village.

3. 3
   adj

   Not perfectly circular; following an uneven path.

   The comet travels in a highly eccentric orbit around the sun.

From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.

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