spherical

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin sphericus, from Ancient Greek σφαιρικός (sphairikós) + -al

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sfɛɹɪkəl/, /sfiːɹɪkəl/

Adjective

spherical (comparative more spherical, superlative most spherical)

  1. (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.
  2. (geometry) (no comparative or superlative) Of, or pertaining to, spheres.
  3. (mathematics) Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.
  4. (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.

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Further reading


Scots

Etymology

From English spherical.

Adjective

spherical

  1. spherical
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