sphere English · revision 15046

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=grc σφαῖρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sfɪə/, US /sfɪr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|spere]], [[bor|fro|espere]] (modern [[fr|sphère]]), respelled after Latin from the mid-15th century,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|sphaera|t=globe, ball, celestial sphere]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|σφαῖρα|tr=sphaîra|t=globe, ball]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word of unknown origin with no certain cognates outside Greek, according to Beekes.^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster link it, perhaps, with a verb meaning to quiver (see [[spurn]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The cosmos, space conceived as a hollow globe around the world: probably before 1300, as spere, in Arthour and Merlin;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300 in Etymonline, before 1300 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Any of the concentric globes once thought to carry the stars and planets is from about 1374, and the music they made, the music of the spheres, from about 1381.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A planet's own sphere, its place, is from about 1385, in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988) which led to a person's province or domain.^(Hoad 1986) The spelling sphere, influenced by Latin, is from before 1450.^(Barnhart 1988) The geometric solid is a sphere from 1602 in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024) Spherical is from the 16th century and spheroid from the 17th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – spere, the cosmos.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1374 – a celestial sphere.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – a planet's sphere.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1450 – the spelling sphere.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1602 – a geometric sphere.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' A solid or surface all of whose points are the same distance from a centre.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any round object; a ball or globe.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A heavenly body, such as a planet or star.^(AHD)

+ # Any of the concentric globes once thought to carry the stars and planets.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A field of activity or influence; a domain: ''sphere of influence''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form into a sphere, or to enclose in one.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sphericity]]

+ * [[spheric]]

+ * [[sphereless]]

+ * [[spherelike]]

+ * [[spherics]]

+ * [[sphery]]

+ * [[sphere of influence]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[-sphere]]

+ * [[atmosphere]]

+ * [[hemisphere]]

+ * [[magnetosphere]]

+ * [[planisphere]]

+ * [[spherical]]

+ * [[spheroid]]

+ * [[spurn]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}