# Ovals, circles and the definition of "round"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 31, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156 "2009-12-31T05:21:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/21 "2010-01-07T17:47:43Z")
Round these here parts we say:
“ellipse in which the two axes are of equal length; a plane curve generated by one point moving at a constant distance from a fixed point.”
'course, we don’t get out much.
---
### Author:  [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/22 "2010-01-07T18:27:26Z")
I tend to view ovals and other elliptical objects as being “round”.
---
### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/23 "2010-01-07T19:47:19Z")
I would say that naming “round” only those thisngs that are mathmatically perfect would make one sound like an irrating tool.
But that’s only my experience in pedantry.
---
### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/24 "2010-01-08T04:30:29Z")
An apple is round. A pear is rounded. Round to me implies symmetry, while rounded means approaching a spherical shape, or having sharp corners softened.
---
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/25 "2010-01-08T17:11:41Z")
IMHO round = circular or spherical **or very nearly so**. For instance, we call the Earth round when in fact it’s an oblate spheroid.
---
### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/26 "2010-01-08T20:00:24Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> IMHO round = circular or spherical **or very nearly so**. For instance, we call the Earth round when in fact it’s an oblate spheroid.
And even then, if you say, “the world is round,” someone will chime in with, “no, it’s slightly pear-shaped.” Even though the Earth is a hell of a lot closer to perfect spheredom than the average billiard ball.
At any rate, the way people _use_ ‘round’ seems to me to be as follows:
1. In two dimensions, ‘round’ means circular, or close enough for government work.
2. In three dimensions, it means that the same thing is true of an obvious cross-section. A pillar or portion of a tree trunk may be ‘round’ even though it’s cylindrical; it’s got a more or less circular horizontal cross-section.
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/27 "2010-01-10T02:13:11Z")
There are degrees of roundness. A circle is more round than a ellipse, but an ellipse is not perfectly flat either.
And a football isn’t usually considered round not because it’s shaped like an ellipse, but because it has those pointy ends. One of the main qualifications for something to be considered round is that it has no sharp edges.
---
### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/28 "2010-01-10T04:12:02Z")
It depends upon whether you’re talking mathematical or literary. Round in math is an absolute. Round in plain English means a round shape.
---
### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/29 "2010-01-11T02:17:44Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> It depends upon whether you’re talking mathematical or literary. Round in math is an absolute. Round in plain English means a round shape.
Actually, ‘circular’ in math is an absolute. ‘Round’ isn’t really a mathematical term of art, to the best of my ability to recall. So we’re just talking about plain English usage.
---
### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/30 "2010-01-11T08:42:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Actually, ‘circular’ in math is an absolute. ‘Round’ isn’t really a mathematical term of art, to the best of my ability to recall. So we’re just talking about plain English usage.
I’ll bet you’re absolutely right. Math is not my strong suit. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/31 "2010-01-11T16:36:31Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#):
>
> But to say an object, say a box, is square can mean only one thing. Right?
As Napier already said, wrong. If I’m holding a picture and nail and ask whether a finished painted wall is square, I’m probably indeed asking whether the height equals the width.
But if I’m in an old house, looking at a wall that’s only bare studs, I’m probably asking whether the angles are 90 degrees.
---
### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/32 "2010-01-15T09:11:28Z")
“Round” is the mathematical perfection of an ideal. Circles, cylinders, and spheres are round. Anything else is “rounded”- an attempt to approach, but never quite meet, that mathematical ideal.
---
### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/33 "2010-01-15T13:25:00Z")
We’ve had this conversation in my house, as well as the one about is black a color? is white a color?
it usually starts with the nitpicky one (my amorphous blob of goo) hijacking a conversation to make a correction. tomato tomatuh
---
### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156/34 "2010-01-15T13:27:24Z")
Round means like a record, baby, right round round round.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovals-circles-and-the-definition-of-round/523156.md?page=1)