geodesic

American  

[jee-uh-des-ik, -dee-sik] / ˌdʒi əˈdɛs ɪk, -ˈdi sɪk /

adjective

1. Also geodesical. pertaining to the geometry of curved surfaces, in which geodesic lines take the place of the straight lines of plane geometry.

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noun

1. geodesic line.

geodesic British  

/ ˌdʒiːəʊˈdɛsɪk, -ˈdiː- /

adjective

1. Also: geodetic.   geodesical.  relating to or involving the geometry of curved surfaces

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noun

1. Also called: geodesic line.  the shortest line between two points on a curved or plane surface

geodesic Scientific  

/ jē′ə-dĕs′ĭk,-dē′sĭk /

1. A curve that locally minimizes the distance between two points on any mathematically defined space, such as a curved manifold. Equivalently, it is a path of minimal curvature. In noncurved three-dimensional space, the geodesic is a straight line. In General Relativity, the trajectory of a body with negligible mass on which only gravitational forces are acting (i.e. a free falling body) is a geodesic in (curved) 4-dimensional space-time.

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1. Of or relating to the branch of geometry that deals with geodesics.

Etymology

Origin of geodesic

From the French word géodésique, dating back to 1815–25. See geodesy, -ic

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

geodesic

In the early ’90s, he had attended Long Beach’s mythic Spruce Goose rave, which took over the hulking geodesic dome that once housed eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes’ failed wooden plane.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

The 60-foot geodesic dome provided a place for people to cool down and take in breakbeats, dubstep and, eventually, other electronic subgenres.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

"This equation shows that in a quantum spacetime, particles do not always move exactly along the shortest path between two points, as the classical geodesic equation would predict."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 2026

Let them scramble over a “sort of geodesic dome,” he suggested, formed of twiggy branches “bent down into a half-bubble,” inspired by Clematis he saw grown that way in England.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

We rounded a corner and I saw the pool complex, a shimmering blue expanse with the same island I remembered from my childhood, except now it was covered by a glass-plated geodesic dome.

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green