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• sphere
  sphere
• -sphere
  -sphere

  a combining form of sphere (planisphere ); having a special use in the names of the layers of gases and the like surrounding the earth and other celestial bodies (ionosphere ).

sphere

¹ American  

[sfeer] / sfɪər /

noun

• spheres
  plural

1. Geometry.

   1. a solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; a round body whose surface is at all points equidistant from the center. Equation: x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = r 2 .

   2. the surface of such a figure; a spherical surface.

2. any rounded body approximately of this form; a globular mass, shell, etc.

3. Astronomy.

   1. a planet or star; heavenly body.

   2. celestial sphere.

   3. any of the transparent, concentric, spherical shells, or layers, in which, according to ancient belief, the planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies were set.

4. the place or environment within which a person or thing exists; a field of activity or operation.

   to be out of one's professional sphere.

   Synonyms:

   domain, realm, compass, province, area, orbit

5. a particular social world, stratum of society, or walk of life.

   His social sphere is small.

   Synonyms:

   rank, class

6. a field of something specified.

   a sphere of knowledge.

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verb (used with object)

sphered, sphering

1. to enclose in or as if in a sphere.

2. to form into a sphere.

3. to place among the heavenly spheres.

-sphere ² American  

1. a combining form of sphere (planisphere ); having a special use in the names of the layers of gases and the like surrounding the earth and other celestial bodies (ionosphere ).

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sphere ¹ British  

/ sfɪə /

noun

1. maths

   1. a three-dimensional closed surface such that every point on the surface is equidistant from a given point, the centre

   2. the solid figure bounded by this surface or the space enclosed by it. Equation: ( x–a )² + ( y–b )² + ( z–c )² = r ², where r is the radius and ( a, b, c ) are the coordinates of the centre; surface area: 4π r ²; volume: 4π r ³/3

2. any object having approximately this shape; globe

3. the night sky considered as a vaulted roof; firmament

4. any heavenly object such as a planet, natural satellite, or star

5. (in the Ptolemaic or Copernican systems of astronomy) one of a series of revolving hollow globes, arranged concentrically, on whose transparent surfaces the sun (or in the Copernican system the earth), the moon, the planets, and fixed stars were thought to be set, revolving around the earth (or in the Copernican system the sun)

6. particular field of activity; environment

   that's out of my sphere

7. a social class or stratum of society

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verb

1. to surround or encircle

2. to place aloft or in the heavens

-sphere ² British  

combining form

1. having the shape or form of a sphere

   bathysphere

2. indicating a spherelike enveloping mass

   atmosphere

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sphere Scientific  

/ sfîr /

1. A three-dimensional geometric surface having all of its points the same distance from a given point.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subsphere
  noun
• sphereless
  adjective
• spherelike
  adjective
• unsphering
  adjective
• -spheric
  combining form

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spheres
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sphere

1250–1300; < Late Latin sphēra, Latin sphaera globe < Greek sphaîra ball; replacing Middle English spere < Old French spere < Late Latin spēra, variant of sphēra

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Explanation

Marbles, oranges, bubbles, and beach balls — all of these objects illustrate the shape of a sphere, or globe (unless the beach balls are under-inflated, in which case they’re sort-of a “squished-sphere” shape). Sphere is often used metaphorically to refer to a particular aspect or area of something. For example, unless you’re a trained circus performer, tightrope walking and fire swallowing probably lie outside of your sphere of expertise. Sphere frequently occurs in the phrase “sphere of influence,” which designates the geographical area over which a person, organization, or nation has control. In many households, whoever is in charge of the cooking controls the kitchen; so, the kitchen falls within his or her sphere of influence.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sphere spheres sphered sphering

One common representation is the "Bloch sphere," a geometric model in which every possible pure state of a single qubit corresponds to a point on the surface of a sphere.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

But our fragmented healthcare system is also a factor in so many of the ills that afflict ordinary American households within the sphere of “affordability.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Dementia UK is just one of many charities working in the health sphere.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

“This would also increase Medibank’s share of Medicare GP consultations to circa 3.6% with a corresponding increase in their sphere of influence,” Jefferies says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

The clink-clink-clink of a metal sphere bounces on a hard surface.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

So we did what you’re “supposed” to do in certain socioeconomic spheres after you’ve gotten married and had a kid: We decided we would make our family an island unto itself.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

"They don't want to have an international order. They want to have big powers with spheres of influence. And this court stands in the way," he said, referring to the ICC.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

The Nazi regime held a tight grip over all spheres of Germany's cultural life, most notably displaying works it deemed unacceptable at the "Degenerate Art Exhibition" in 1937.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

The material consists of porous, hollow carbon spheres containing orderly radial nanochannels, along with substantial pore space and surface area.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

Kepler knew there were no crystalline spheres in the heavens, and so he understood that the planets were moving through empty space on what he called an ‘orbit’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Yea, for the sake of the wild western wind The sphered spirit scorns her flame-built throne, Because of primroses, time out of mind, The Lonely turns away from the Alone.

From A Cluster of Grapes A Book of Twentieth Century Poetry by Various

His imagination, "nigh sphered in Heaven," claimed kindred only with what he saw from that height, and could raise to the same elevation with itself.

From Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution by Alfred Rayney Waller

Now Amidon's eyes sought hers again, and held there; and the twin worlds, sphered in some slowly-turning orbit, seemed swinging in their native space.

From Double Trouble Or, Every Hero His Own Villain by Orson Lowell

That so august a spirit, sphered so fair, Should from the starry sessions of his peers, Decline to quench so bright a brilliancy In hell’s sick spume.

From St. Winifred's, or The World of School by H. C. (Harold C.) Earnshaw

Some of the Parrot’s recitals have other tales sphered within them, so to say—a plan which must be familiar to all readers of the Arabian Nights.

From Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers by William Alexander Clouston

I stick my head into the workshop and say hello to Ben Morling, founder and MD of both branches, who got into the Segway business after some success with a sphering, or zorbing, company.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 31, 2015

Greater than the sphering sea,  For it holds the sea and land; Seed of all ideas to be  Down its current borne like sand.

From An Anthology of Australian Verse by Bertram Stevens

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Related Words

• circle
• field
• realm
• scope

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