eccentric
pronunciation
How to pronounce eccentric in British English:
UK [ɪkˈsentrɪk]
How to pronounce eccentric in American English:
US [ɪkˈsentrɪk]
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- Noun:
- a person with an unusual or odd personality
- a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)
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- Adjective:
- conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
- not having a common center; not concentric
Word Origin
- eccentric (n.)
- early 15c., "eccentric circle or orbit," originally a term in Ptolemaic astronomy, "circle or orbit not having the Earth precisely at its center," from Middle French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective), from Greek ekkentros "out of the center" (as opposed to concentric), from ek "out" (see ex-) + kentron "center" (see center (n.)). Meaning "odd or whimsical person" is attested by 1817 (S.W. Ryley, "The Itinerant, or Memoirs of an Actor"). June 4 [1800].--Died in the streets in Newcastle, William Barron, an eccentric, well known for many years by the name of Billy Pea-pudding. [John Sykes, "Local Records, or Historical Register of Remarkable Events which have Occurred Exclusively in the Counties of Durham and Northumberland, Town and County of Newcastle Upon Tyne, and Berwick Upon Tweed," Newcastle, 1824]
- eccentric (adj.)
- 1550s, from Middle French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective; see eccentric (n.)). Of persons, figurative sense of "odd, whimsical" first recorded 1620s. "Eccentric is applied to acts which are the effects of tastes, prejudices, judgments, etc., not merely different from those of ordinary people, but largely unaccountable and often irregular ..." [Century Dictionary].
Example
- 1. I was happy about loeffler 's eccentric crushes .
- 2. Galton , however , should not be dismissed as an eccentric .
- 3. This chamber contains a slightly eccentric cylinder which can be rotated to make either the upper or the lower slots bigger .
- 4. The place is run by an eccentric owner who likes to wander around with a parrot on his shoulder .
- 5. The scientists say that simply moving your mouth like other folks do allows you to intuit their potentially eccentric speech patterns , and get what they say .