sphere Alternative forms
* (archaic)
* sphear (archaic)
Noun
( en noun)
(mathematics) A regular three-dimensional object in which every cross-section is a circle; the figure described by the revolution of a circle about its diameter .
A spherical physical object; a globe or ball.
* Milton
- Of celestial bodies, first the sun, / A mighty sphere , he framed.
* 2011 , Piers Sellers, The Guardian , 6 July:
- So your orientation changes a little bit but it sinks in that the world is a sphere , and you're going around it, sometimes under it, sideways, or over it.
* 1635 , John Donne, "His parting form her":
- Though cold and darkness longer hang somewhere, / Yet Phoebus equally lights all the Sphere .
(historical, astronomy, mythology) Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres ).
*, vol.1, p.153:
- It is more simplicitie to teach our children[t]he knowledge of the starres, and the motion of the eighth spheare , before their owne.
* 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , I.6:
- They understood not the motion of the eighth sphear from West to East, and so conceived the longitude of the Stars invariable.
(mythology) An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc.
(figuratively) The region in which something or someone is active; one's province, domain.
* 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.20:
- They thought – originally on grounds derived from religion – that each thing or person had its or his proper sphere , to overstep which is ‘unjust’.
(geometry) The set of all points in three-dimensional Euclidean space (or n -dimensional space, in topology) that are a fixed distance from a fixed point .
(logic) The extension of a general conception, or the totality of the individuals or species to which it may be applied.
Synonyms
* (object) ball, globe, orb
* (region of activity) area, domain, field, orbit, sector
* (in geometry) (''topology )
* See celestial sphere
* See celestial body
Derived terms
* blogosphere
* sphere of influence
* sphere of interest
Related terms
* atmosphere
* hemisphere
* ionosphere
* planisphere
* spherical
* spheroid
* stratosphere
* troposphere
See also
* ball (in topology )
* Mathworld article on the sphere
*
Verb
( spher)
To place in a sphere, or among the spheres; to ensphere.
* Shakespeare
- The glorious planet Sol / In noble eminence enthroned and sphered / Amidst the other.
To make round or spherical; to perfect.
- (Tennyson)
( Webster 1913)
Anagrams
*
*
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lapilli English
Noun
(-)
A sphere shaped droplet of molten lava ejected from a volcanic eruption which falls to earth while still at least partially molten, ranging in size from 2 to 64 millimeters.
* {{quote-news, year=2007, date=May 8, author=Henry Fountain, title=It’s Still Dark Out, So Why Are the Birds Singing Away?, work=New York Times citation
, passage=They also found rounded granules that are probably accretionary lapilli — volcanic hailstones, formed as material gathers in the air. }}
Hypernyms
* tephra
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