[epi.cy.cle] n [ME epicicle, fr. LL epicyclus, fr. Gk epikyklos, fr. epi- + kyklos circle--more at wheel] (14c) 1 in Ptolemaic astron: a circle in which a planet moves and which has a center that is itself carried around at the same time on the circumference of a larger circle
2: a process going on within a larger one -- epi.cy.clic adj