OVAL, an oblong curvilinear figure, otherwise called ellipsis. (See ELLIPSIS.) However, the proper oval, or egg-shape, differs considerably from that of the ellipsis, being an irregular figure, narrower at one end than at another: whereas the ellipsis, or mathematical oval, is equally broad at each end: though it must be owned, these two are commonly confounded together; even geometers calling the oval a falsé ellipsis.