Adjacent Words

Spherical definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPHER'IC, SPHER'ICAL, a. [L. sphericus.]
1. Globular; orbicular; having a surface in every part equally distant from the center; as a spherical body. Drops of water take a spherical form.
2. Planetary; relating to the orbs of the planets. We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and the stars, as if we were villains by spherical predominance.
SPHERICAL GEOMETRY. that branch of geometry which teats of spherical magnitudes.
SPHERICAL TRIANGLE, a triangle formed by the mutual intersection of three great circles of the sphere.
SPHERICAL TRIGONOMETRY, that branch of trigonometry which teaches to compute the sides and angles of spherical triangles.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of or relating to spheres or resembling a sphere; "spherical geometry" [ant: nonspherical]
2: having the shape of a sphere or ball; "a spherical object"; "nearly orbicular in shape"; "little globular houses like mud-wasp nests"- Zane Grey [syn: ball-shaped, global, globose, globular, orbicular, spheric, spherical]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 15th century 1. having the form of a sphere or of one of its segments 2. relating to or dealing with a sphere or its properties • spherically adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 shaped like a sphere; globular. 2 a of or relating to the properties of spheres (spherical geometry). b formed inside or on the surface of a sphere (spherical triangle). Phrases and idioms: spherical aberration a loss of definition in the image produced by a spherically curved mirror or lens. spherical angle an angle formed by the intersection of two great circles of a sphere. Derivatives: spherically adv. Etymology: LL sphaericus f. Gk sphairikos (as SPHERE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spherical Spher"ic*al, Spheric Spher"ic, a. [L. sphaericus, Gr. ???: cf. F. sph['e]rique.] 1. Having the form of a sphere; like a sphere; globular; orbicular; as, a spherical body. 2. Of or pertaining to a sphere. 3. Of or pertaining to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy and astrology, they were set. Knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance. --Shak. Though the stars were suns, and overburned Their spheric limitations. --Mrs. Browning. Spherical angle, Spherical co["o]rdinate, Spherical excess, etc. See under Angle, Coordinate, etc. Spherical geometry, that branch of geometry which treats of spherical magnitudes; the doctrine of the sphere, especially of the circles described on its surface. Spherical harmonic analysis. See under Harmonic, a. Spherical lune,portion of the surface of a sphere included between two great semicircles having a common diameter. Spherical opening, the magnitude of a solid angle. It is measured by the portion within the solid angle of the surface of any sphere whose center is the angular point. Spherical polygon,portion of the surface of a sphere bounded by the arcs of three or more great circles. Spherical projection, the projection of the circles of the sphere upon a plane. See Projection. Spherical sector. See under Sector. Spherical segment, the segment of a sphere. See under Segment. Spherical triangle,re on the surface of a sphere, bounded by the arcs of three great circles which intersect each other. Spherical trigonometry. See Trigonometry. -- Spher"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Spher"ic*al*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Something that is spherical is round like a ball. (FORMAL) ...purple and gold spherical earrings. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Globular, orbicular, globated, globous, globose, rotund, round. 2. Planetary.

Moby Thesaurus

3-D, bulblike, bulbous, cubic, dimensional, ellipsoid, flat, fourth-dimensional, global, globate, globe-shaped, globed, globelike, globoid, globose, globular, hemispheric, obovoid, orb, orbed, orbic, orbicular, orbiculate, orblike, orby, ovoid, proportional, round, space, space-time, spatial, spatiotemporal, sphere-shaped, spherelike, spheric, spheriform, spheroid, spheroidal, stereoscopic, superficial, surface, three-dimensional, two-dimensional, volumetric