geodesic
[jee-uh-des-ik, -dee-sik]
- Also ge·o·des·i·cal. 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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Origin of geodesic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for geodesic
Historical Examples
The world line of a ray of light is a geodesic in the continuum.
His experiments on the pendulum and Geodesic surveys rendered him famous.
The Every Day Book of History and ChronologyJoel Munsell
geodesic
- Also: geodetic, geodesical relating to or involving the geometry of curved surfaces
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- Also called: geodesic line the shortest line between two points on a curved or plane surface
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for geodesic
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
geodesic
[jē′ə-dĕs′ĭk, -dē′sĭk]
- 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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- Of or relating to the branch of geometry that deals with geodesics.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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