prolate

Updated: May 26, 2025

The action of a paddle wheel in the water resembles in this respect that of the wheel of a carriage running along the ground: that point in the radius of the paddle of which the rotative speed is just equal to the velocity of the vessel will describe a cycloid; points nearer the centre, prolate cycloids, and points further from the centre, curtate cycloids.

C.E. John Bourne - A Catechism of the Steam Engine