sphere

sphere
—sphereless, adj. —spherelike, adj.
/sfear/, n., v., sphered, sphering.
n.
1. Geom.
a. a solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; a round body whose surface is at all points equidistant from the center. Equation: x2 + y2 + z2 = r2.
b. the surface of such a figure; a spherical surface.
2. any rounded body approximately of this form; a globular mass, shell, etc.
3. Astron.
a. a planet or star; heavenly body.
c. any of the transparent, concentric, spherical shells, or layers, in which, according to ancient belief, the planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies were set.
4. the place or environment within which a person or thing exists; a field of activity or operation: to be out of one's professional sphere.
5. a particular social world, stratum of society, or walk of life: His social sphere is small.
6. a field of something specified: a sphere of knowledge.
v.t.
7. to enclose in or as if in a sphere.
8. to form into a sphere.
9. to place among the heavenly spheres.
[1250-1300; < LL sphera, L sphaera globe < Gk sphaîra ball; r. ME spere < OF spere < LL spera, var. of sphera]
Syn. 4. orbit, area, province, compass, realm, domain. 5. class, rank.

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I
In geometry, the set of all points in three-dimensional space lying the same distance (the radius) from a given point (the centre), or the result of rotating a circle about one of its diameters.

The components and properties of a sphere are analogous to those of a circle. A diameter is any line segment connecting two points of a sphere and passing through its centre. The circumference is the length of any great circle, the intersection of the sphere with any plane passing through its centre. A meridian is any great circle passing through a point designated a pole. A geodesic, the shortest distance between any two points on a sphere, is an arc of the great circle through the two points. The formula for determining a sphere's surface area is 4πr2; its volume is determined by (43)πr3. The study of spheres is basic to terrestrial geography and is one of the principal areas of Euclidean geometry and elliptic geometry.
II
(as used in expressions)
Monk Thelonious Sphere

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Sphere — Sphere, n. [OE. spere, OF. espere, F. sph[ e]re, L. sphaera,. Gr. ??? a sphere, a ball.] 1. (Geom.) A body or space contained under a single surface, which in every part is equally distant from a point within called its center. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • -sphère — ⇒ SPHÈRE, élém. formant Élém. tiré du subst. fr. sphère, entrant dans la constr. de subst. fém., plus rarement masc. A. GÉOPHYS., ASTRON. [Sur le modèle de atmosphère; les mots constr. désignent des couches de la sphère terrestre ou de son… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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