mathematics - Is there a word for a class of circular shapes?
I'm not sure if this belongs here, but I'm wondering if there is a word for a class of circular shapes?
Thinking about this hierarchically:
* Shape
* Polygon
* Square
* Rectangle
* ???????
* Circle
* Oval
EDIT:
Ok, so mathematically I'm not sure there is a correct answer to my question that's any better than the one Mehper so eloquently explained (round shape). Let's break down what we have so far:
In the blue corner: Noldorin
* Ellipsoid
* Ellipse
* Circle
* Oval
In the red corner: pretty much everyone else
* Oval
* Ellipse
Now, my question for the red team is: where does a circle fit in? From what I understand a circle can't be an oval, but a circle is an ellipse. Those two facts make the following untrue:
* Oval
* Ellipse
* Circle
I'll stick with ellipsoid for now until I hear some better explanation.
Also note this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsoid#Egg_shape
An egg shape, which is an oval (not an ellipse) is comprised of two ellipses. This seems to make an oval a sub-class of an ellipse.
Kindly correct me if I've made any mistakes.
Answer
Circles and ovals are both types of ellipses. An 'oval' is really the informal term for an 'ellipse', whereas a 'circle' is an ellipse where the semi-major and semi-minor axes are equal.
If you're talking about higher-dimensions, the word you are looking for is probably ellipsoid. (A sphere is an example.)
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