Etymology From Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570.
› An elongated round shape resembling an…
1
A two-dimensional one.
Near-synonym: ellipse
2
A three-dimensional one.
3
A thing having such a shape, such as an arena.
At the far end of the wide corridor were the doors of a ward. The panels were frosted save for ovals of clear glass at face level.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 19:
4
Australia A sports field, typically but not exclusively oval in shape.
5
Mathematics, Sciences In a projective plane, a set of points such that no three are collinear and there is a unique tangent line at each point.
Etymology From Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570.
1
Having the shape of an oval.
2
Of or pertaining to an ovum.
oval conceptions
Every congenital abnormality is doubtless due to a peculiarity in the sperm or oval elements or in their mingling, or to some disturbance in their early development.1901, Havelock Ellis, Sexual inversion, page 187: