Dictionary.com

sphere

[ sfeer ]
/ sfɪər /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: sphere / spheres on Thesaurus.com

noun
verb (used with object), sphered, spher·ing.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of sphere

1250–1300; <Late Latin sphēra,Latin sphaera globe <Greek sphaîra ball; replacing Middle English spere<Old French spere<Late Latin spēra, variant of sphēra

OTHER WORDS FROM sphere

sphereless, adjectivespherelike, adjectivesubsphere, nounun·spher·ing, adjective

Other definitions for sphere (2 of 2)

-sphere

a combining form of sphere (planisphere); having a special use in the names of the layers of gases and the like surrounding the earth and other celestial bodies (ionosphere).
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sphere in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sphere (1 of 2)

sphere
/ (sfɪə) /

noun
verb (tr) mainly poetic
to surround or encircle
to place aloft or in the heavens

Word Origin for sphere

C14: from Late Latin sphēra, from Latin sphaera globe, from Greek sphaira

British Dictionary definitions for sphere (2 of 2)

-sphere

n combining form
having the shape or form of a spherebathysphere
indicating a spherelike enveloping massatmosphere

Derived forms of -sphere

-spheric, adj combining form
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for sphere

sphere
[ sfîr ]

A three-dimensional geometric surface having all of its points the same distance from a given point.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
FEEDBACK