sphere

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“
For as the sphere is a body it is finite

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Definitions (73)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun Mathematics A three-dimensional surface, all points of which are equidistant from a fixed point.
  2. noun A spherical object or figure.
  3. noun A celestial body, such as a planet or star.
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Examples (50)

  • The image in the sphere was at first vague and seemed to be upside down. —  Astounding Stories January, 1935
  • I fancied, however, that they watched my preparations with skeptical eyes, and indeed they could hardly be blamed for not expecting much in the equestrian sphere from a German staff officer. —  Panzer Battles
  • I was not in the least “horsey”; my sphere was the gaieties of Paris and the gaming-tables of Monte Carlo—a sphere which has made short work of fortunes compared with which mine would be insignificant. —  Under the Dragon Flag
  • The island recovered its so-called independence; and the sole result of Napoleon's efforts in this sphere was the loss of more than twenty generals and some 30,000 troops. —  The Life of Napoleon I (Volume 1 of 2)
  • The surface of a sphere is also two-dimensional; for example, points on the Earth are described by longitude and latitude. —  StrangeHorizons,September2002
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

realm ·  circle ·  aspect ·  globe ·  structure ·  region ·  dome ·  plane ·  universe ·  dimension ·  source ·  existence

Used in the same contextWord Family

sphere:   spheres
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English spere, from Old French espere, from Latin sphaera, from Greek sphaira.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also sphear, spheare, also sphære (with vowel as in L.); earlier (and still dial.) spere, from Middle English spere, from Old French espere, later sphere, French sphére = Provencal espera = Spanish esfera = Portuguese esphera = Italian sfera = Dutch sfecr = German sphäre = Danish sfære = Swedish spher, from Latin sphæra, Middle Latin also sphera, spera, from Greek σφαῖρα, a ball, globe, sphere, applied to a playing-ball, a sphere as a geometrical figure, the terrestrial globe, the earth, also an artificial globe (so in Strabo, the notion that the earth is a sphere appearing first prob. in Plato), also a star or planet (Plutarch), also a hollow sphere, one of the concentric spheres supposed to revolve around the earth, also a ball (of the eye), a pill, etc.; perhaps literally ‘that which is tossed about’ (applied first to a playing-ball), for *σφάργα for *σπάργα, from σπεῖρειυ, scatter, throw about (see sperm, spore); or perhaps connected with σπεῖρα, a coil, ball, spire (see spire).
  2. from sphere, n.
 

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