planisphere

American  

[plan-uh-sfeer, pley-nuh-] / ˈplæn əˌsfɪər, ˈpleɪ nə- /

noun

1. a map of half or more of the celestial sphere with a device for indicating the part of a given location visible at a given time.

2. a projection or representation of the whole or a part of a sphere on a plane.

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planisphere British  

/ ˌplænɪˈsfɛrɪk, ˈplænɪˌsfɪə /

noun

1. a projection or representation of all or part of a sphere on a plane surface, such as a polar projection of the celestial sphere onto a chart

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Other Word Forms

• planispheral adjective
• planispheric adjective
• planispherical adjective

Etymology

Origin of planisphere

1350–1400; plani- + sphere; replacing Middle English planisperie < Medieval Latin plānisphaerium

Example Sentences

A second map, created in 1502 and called the Cantino Planisphere, depicts the peninsula of Florida with a remarkably accurate rendering of its inlets and bays.

From Washington Times

In the poem “In a Wonderful Place,” published in the 2009 collection “Planisphere,” he offered a brief, bittersweet look back.

From Washington Post

In summer I sometimes come outside at night with my torch and my planisphere, which is two circles of plastic with a pin through the middle.

From Literature

If it’s prominent enough throughout, the reader will go along with whatever unlikely image he might throw in—the sight of a woman reclining on the bristles of a toothbrush, for example, or a nation born on a man’s palm with a whole “saffron planisphere and aged rum.”

From The Wall Street Journal

According to Brown, Lupus appears on the Euphratian planisphere discovered by George Smyth in the palace of Sennacherib.

From Project Gutenberg