Epicycle
Epicycle , noun
[Latin epicyclus, Greek {not transcribed}; 'epi` upon + {not transcribed} circle. See Cycle.]
1.
(Ptolemaic Astronomy) A circle, whose center moves round in the circumference of a greater circle; or a small circle, whose center, being fixed in the deferent of a planet, is carried along with the deferent, and yet, by its own peculiar motion, carries the body of the planet fastened to it round its proper center.
The schoolmen were like astronomers which did feign eccentrics, and epicycles, and such engines of orbs.
2.
(Mechanics) A circle which rolls on the circumference of another circle, either externally or internally.