sphaera

Latin

Alternative forms

• sphēra (Late Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈspʰae̯.ra/, [ˈs̠pʰäe̯rä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsfe.ra/, [ˈsfɛːrä]

Noun

sphaera f (genitive sphaerae); first declension

1. ball, globe, sphere
2. a globe of the heavens
3. a ball for playing

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sphaera	sphaerae
Genitive	sphaerae	sphaerārum
Dative	sphaerae	sphaerīs
Accusative	sphaeram	sphaerās
Ablative	sphaerā	sphaerīs
Vocative	sphaera	sphaerae

Synonyms

• (globe, sphere): globus

Derived terms

• sphaerālis
• sphaerula

Related terms

• sphaericus
• sphaerion
• sphaerista
• sphaeristērium
• sphaeroīdēs
• sphaeromachia

Descendants

• → Catalan: esfera
• → French: sphère
• → Galician: esfera
• → Italian: sfera
• → Romanian: sferă
• → Spanish: esfera
• → English: sphere, sphaera recta
• → German: Sphäre
• → Irish: spéir, sféar
• → Polish: sfera
• → Portuguese: esfera
• Friulian: spere
• Italian: spera
• Old Galician-Portuguese: espera
• Venetian: spiera

See also

• orbis

References

• “sphaera”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sphaera”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sphaera in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sphaera in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “sphaera”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “sphaera”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 613