Elliptic curves can be defined over arbitrary base schemes $S$. Loosely speaking, what one gets is a family $E$ of elliptic curves parametrized by the points of $S$. One then proves the existence of the group law ($E$ can be given the structure of an $S$-group scheme), and goes from there.
In the book Arithmetic Moduli of Elliptic Curves by Katz and Mazur, an elliptic curve over $S$ is defined as a proper smooth morphism $f : E \rightarrow S$ of finite presentation, with a section $0 : S \rightarrow E$, such that all geometric fibers of $f$ are integral (equivalently, connected) curves of genus one).