# Is there a widely accepted name in English for this shape: oval with pointed ends? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454 "2026-02-06T21:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/21 "2026-02-07T12:21:33Z")
[Lanceolate](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lanceolate) (lance-shaped) is a term for a shape that tapers to a point at both ends, but not necessarily uniformly so (and it seems to be mostly used for leaf shapes). So maybe a symmetric or uniform lanceolate? ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/22 "2026-02-07T13:13:56Z")
“Fusiform” (for ‘spindle shaped’) is an adjectival description of a geometric lemon. Lenticular implies to me a disc-shaped object with a narrowed edge, lacking discrete ‘ends’. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/23 "2026-02-07T14:18:42Z")
Oblate spheroid ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/24 "2026-02-07T14:28:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s absolutely the correct name for the 3-D version of the shape: Man, I learn things on the SD every single day. Thank you! Although, there are some regrettable slang consequences of calling anything except the citrus fruit a “lemon”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/25 "2026-02-07T14:32:15Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > “lenticular” > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > “Lemon shaped.” Lemonticular? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/26 "2026-02-07T14:41:52Z")
The sub-species _Citrus jambhiri_ could be viewed as lenticular. They produce a coherent image of two different lemons, as do most lenticular images, but it is the same lemon from two different perspectives [https://www.pickmenursery.co.za/shop/plants-2/trees-tre/fruit-trees/citrus-lemon-cape-rough-skin/](https://www.pickmenursery.co.za/shop/plants-2/trees-tre/fruit-trees/citrus-lemon-cape-rough-skin/) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/27 "2026-02-07T16:33:57Z")
Doesn’t “lenticular” just mean eye shaped. I mean _len_ is right in the word, and all. Eye shape and the pisces(fishy shape) are connected in other ways. Culturally. If you want a descriptive word, _Evil eye_ shape is perfect. Wanna sound smart use _lenticular._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/28 "2026-02-07T16:54:11Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Doesn’t “lenticular” just mean eye shaped No. _Lens_ is Latin for lentil. The diminutive _lenticula_ is lentil-shaped, thus lenticular. It just so happens that the lens of the eye is so shaped, thus the name. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/29 "2026-02-09T01:23:18Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Oblate spheroid I believe you mean prolate spheroid. But that’s a 3D object, not a 2D shape. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/30 "2026-02-09T03:11:25Z")
Also, neither type of spheroid has pointed ends. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/31 "2026-02-09T03:12:33Z")
True, although the prolate spheroid is at least “pointy” like a football. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/32 "2026-02-09T03:57:18Z")
Well, maybe like a rugby ball. The poles of an American football seem rather nondifferentiable. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/33 "2026-02-09T04:21:26Z")
I don’t understand what you mean. It sounds like you’re saying that one can’t tell the difference between one end of an American football and the other. That seems rather the point (if you will), and the same as a rugby ball, although the sizes are a little different. The American ball is apparently 1 cm longer and 4 cm less in circumference; it is also slightly more pointed than the rugby ball. See illustration: [https://www.welon-huahui.com/news-the-difference-between-rugby-ball-and-american-football.html](https://www.welon-huahui.com/news-the-difference-between-rugby-ball-and-american-football.html) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/34 "2026-02-09T05:29:49Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > also slightly more pointed than the rugby ball That was my point (no pun intended). I was using “nondifferentiable” in the mathematical sense. An American football has two sharp points, unlike a rugby ball or a prolate spheroid, which is differentiable everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/35 "2026-02-09T05:35:20Z")
Isn’t that spoilered link a picture of the mythical creature Sheela-Na-Gig? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/36 "2026-02-09T05:48:59Z")
It is she indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/37 "2026-02-09T18:52:03Z")
To the point, or not, the corners of the eye are canthi (singular = canthus). ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/38 "2026-02-09T20:01:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Evil eye. > > 👁 From the time I visited Turkiye, it seems to me the evil eye is more round. [![](https://res.cloudinary.com/jerrick/image/upload/d_642250b563292b35f27461a7.png,f_jpg,fl_progressive,q_auto,w_1024/696836445f0a73001e503449.jpg) ](https://res.cloudinary.com/jerrick/image/upload/d_642250b563292b35f27461a7.png,f_jpg,fl_progressive,q_auto,w_1024/696836445f0a73001e503449.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454/39 "2026-02-09T23:53:04Z")
Those are wards _against_ the evil eye (nazar). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-widely-accepted-name-in-english-for-this-shape-oval-with-pointed-ends/1027454.md?page=1)