spherical aberration

Save This Word!

noun

variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.

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?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of spherical aberration

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby spherical aberration

spher-, spheral, sphere, sphere of influence, spherical, spherical aberration, spherical angle, spherical astronomy, spherical coordinate, spherical coordinates, spherical excess

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spherical aberration in a sentence

A lens in which the spherical aberration is corrected is said to be aplanatic.
An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope|John William Griffith
This combination largely overcame the spherical aberration, and it gained immediate fame as the "Wollaston doublet."
A History of Science, Volume 4(of 5)|Henry Smith Williams
Huyghens also invented the compound eye-piece that bears his name, made of two convex lenses to diminish spherical aberration.
History of Astronomy|George Forbes
Now there are evidently two methods of destroying or correcting spherical aberration, viz.
An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope|John William Griffith

And the correction is produced by the same plano-concave lens as that which corrects the spherical aberration.
An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope|John William Griffith

British Dictionary definitions for spherical aberration

spherical aberration

noun

physics a defect of optical systems that arises when light striking a mirror or lens near its edge is focused at different points on the axis to the light striking near the centre. The effect occurs when the mirror or lens has spherical surfacesSee also aberration (def. 4)

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 spherical aberration

spherical aberration

[ sfîr′ĭ-kəl ]

See under aberration.