great circle

American  

noun

1. a circle on a spherical surface such that the plane containing the circle passes through the center of the sphere.

2. a circle of which a segment represents the shortest distance between two points on the surface of the earth.

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great circle British  

noun

1. a circular section of a sphere that has a radius equal to that of the sphere Compare small circle

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great circle Scientific  

1. A circle on the surface of a sphere whose plane passes through the center of the sphere. The Earth's equator is a great circle on the sphere of the globe.

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Etymology

Origin of great circle

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

Their shiny bodies slashed through the waves, creating a great circle of sea-foam that tightened around the station until the fish slammed against the base.

From Literature

Since the earth is a sphere, the shortest path between two points is expressed by the great circle distance, which corresponds to an arc linking two points on a sphere.

From BBC

He credits his routine of helping keep him up along with a great circle of support, having heard from hundreds of people since his mother died.

From Seattle Times

“The great circle in the sky,” as Brandt calls it, may be a region just beyond the heliopause where ions snared in a magnetic field spawn ENAs.

From Science Magazine

These sites were planned on the image of a great circle — or series of circles — of houses, with nobody first, nobody last, divided into districts with assembly buildings for public meetings.

From New York Times