cycloid Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a line generated by a point on a circle rolling along a straight line
  2. adjective satellite resembling a circle
    cycloidal.

WordNet

Cy"cloid noun
Etymology
Cyclo- + -oid: cf. F. cycloïde.
Definitions
  1. (Geom.) A curve generated by a point in the plane of a circle when the circle is rolled along a straight line, keeping always in the same plane. ✍ The common cycloid is the curve described when the generating point (p) is on the circumference of the generating circle; the curtate cycloid, when that point lies without the circumference; the prolate or inflected cycloid, when the generating point (p) lies within that circumference.
Cy"cloid adjective
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Cycloidei.
Cy"cloid noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) One of the Cycloidei.

Webster 1913