An elliptical wing is a wing

Wing

A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...

 planform

Planform

In aviation, a planform is the shape and layout of a fixed-wing aircraft's fuselage and wing. Of all the myriad planforms used, they can typically be grouped into those used for low-speed flight, found on general aviation aircraft, and those used for high-speed flight, found on many military...

 shape that minimizes induced drag

Lift-induced drag

In aerodynamics, lift-induced drag, induced drag, vortex drag, or sometimes drag due to lift, is a drag force that occurs whenever a moving object redirects the airflow coming at it. This drag force occurs in airplanes due to wings or a lifting body redirecting air to cause lift and also in cars...

. Elliptical taper shortens the chord

Chord (aircraft)

In aeronautics, chord refers to the imaginary straight line joining the trailing edge and the center of curvature of the leading edge of the cross-section of an airfoil...

 near the wingtips in such a way that all parts of the wing experience equivalent downwash, and lift at the wing tips is essentially zero, improving aerodynamic

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...

 efficiency due to a greater Oswald efficiency number

Oswald efficiency number

The Oswald efficiency, similar to the span efficiency, is a correction factor that represents the change in drag with lift of a three dimensional wing or airplane, as compared with an ideal wing having the same aspect ratio and an elliptical lift distribution.-Definition:The Oswald efficiency is...

 in the induced drag equation.

The elliptical wing was first used on aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 in the 1930s, but has only seen limited use, for a number of reasons:

• the compound curves involved are difficult and costly to manufacture,
• the pure elliptical shape as a superior planform may be a myth.