spherical

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin sphaericus (“spherical”) with the English suffix -al;^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline instead analyses it as sphere and -ical.^[6] The Late Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek σφαιρικός (sphairikós), from σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”) and -ικός (-ikós).^[3][5][7] The shorter spheric, directly from the Latin, is recorded from the 1550s.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the form of a sphere, globular: 1523, in John Skelton's Garland of Laurel.^[2][6] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date the word to the late 15th century,^[8][7] and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the first the word meant both globe-shaped and, of a form or figure, typical of a sphere (before 1527).^[2] In mathematics it was used from 1571 of lines and figures drawn on the surface of a sphere, above all the spherical triangle; since 1728 it has also been used of the study of such figures, as in spherical trigonometry.^[2][9] Shakespeare used it in King Lear of the celestial spheres of the old astronomy,^[2] a sense Etymonline dates to about 1600.^[6] Optics added spherical aberration, the failure of a spherical lens or mirror to bring rays to one focus, in 1868.^[2] A rare sense "circular" ran from the 17th to the 18th century,^[8][2] and Sir Thomas Browne (1646) used spherical number for a number whose powers always end in the same digit.^[2]

Timeline

• 1523 – having the form of a sphere, in Skelton.^[2]
• before 1527 – of form or figure, characteristic of a sphere.^[2]
• 1571 – of lines or figures drawn on a sphere; spherical triangle.^[2]
• before 1616 – of the celestial spheres, in Shakespeare's King Lear.^[2]
• 1646 – spherical number, in Sir Thomas Browne (obsolete by 1704).^[2]
• 1728 – dealing with the properties of the sphere.^[2]
• 1868 – spherical aberration.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Shaped like a sphere; globular or round: a spherical glass lampshade.^[3][9][2]
2. Of or relating to a sphere or its properties; in geometry, drawn on or inside a sphere: a spherical triangle.^[3][9][2]
3. Of or relating to the celestial spheres or the heavenly bodies.^[3][9][2]

Word family

• spherically
• sphericalness
• sphericality
• aspherical
• hemispherical
• nonspherical
• subspherical
• sphericity

Related words

• sphere
• spheric
• hemisphere
• atmosphere

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins