spherical
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin sphericus (+ -al), from Ancient Greek σφαιρικός (sphairikós)
Pronunciation
Adjective
spherical (comparative more spherical, superlative most spherical)
- (geometry) Shaped like a sphere.
- 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:
- The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
- (geometry) (no comparative or superlative) Of, or pertaining to, spheres.
- (mathematics) Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.
- (astrology) Of or relating to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy and astrology, they were set.
- 1606: William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2
- Knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance.
- 1606: William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2
Derived terms
Translations
shaped like a sphere
|
of or relating to a sphere or spheres
|
Further reading
- “spherical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “spherical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “spherical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Scots
Etymology
Adjective
spherical
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -al
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- en:Geometry
- English terms with quotations
- en:Mathematics
- en:Astrology
- Scots terms borrowed from English
- Scots terms derived from English
- Scots lemmas
- Scots adjectives