Oblate vs Spherical - What's the difference?

oblate | spherical |


As adjectives the difference between oblate and spherical

is that oblate is flattened or depressed at the poles while spherical is (label) shaped like a sphere.

As a noun oblate

is (roman catholic church) a person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.

oblate

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m) and its source, post-classical (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (Roman Catholic Church) A person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.
  • A child given up by its parents into the keeping or dedication of a religious order or house.
  • * 2007', The Venerable Bede started as an '''oblate at St Paul's, Jarrow, but by the time of his death in 735 was surely the most learned man in Europe. — Tom Shippey, ‘I Lerne Song’, ''London Review of Books 29:4, p. 19
    • Related terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From ).

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Flattened or depressed at the poles.
    • The Earth is an oblate spheroid.
  • * 1922', Why should I not speak to him or to any human being who walks upright upon this '''oblate orange? — James Joyce, ''Ulysses
  • * 1997', ‘ ’Tis prolate, still,’ with a long dejected Geordie O. ‘Isn’t it…?’ ‘I’m an Astronomer,– trust me, ’tis gone well to '''oblate .’ — Thomas Pynchon, ''Mason & Dixon
    • Antonyms
    * (l)
    See also
    * (l)
    Related terms
    * (l)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    spherical

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (label) Shaped like a sphere.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=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.}}
  • (label) (no comparative or superlative ) Of, or pertaining to, spheres.
  • (label) Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.
  • (label) 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.

    Synonyms

    * (shaped like a sphere) globular, orbicular, round

    Derived terms

    * spherical aberration * spherical angle * spherical cap * spherical distance * spherical geometry * sphericality * spherical lune * spherical sector * spherical segment * spherical triangle * spherical trigonometry * spherical wedge * sphericity

    External links

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