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1. Having the form of a sphere; like a sphere; globular; orbicular; as, a spherical body.
2. Of or pertaining to a sphere.
3. Of or pertaining to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy
and astrology, they were set.
Knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance. Shak.
Though the stars were suns, and overburned
Their spheric limitations. Mrs. Browning. Spherical angle, Spherical coördinate, Spherical excess, etc. See under Angle, Coordinate, etc.
— Spherical geometry, that branch of geometry which treats of spherical magnitudes; the doctrine of
the sphere, especially of the circles described on its surface. — Spherical harmonic analysis. See
under Harmonic, a. — Spherical lune,portion of the surface of a sphere included between two great
semicircles having a common diameter. — Spherical opening, the magnitude of a solid angle. It is
measured by the portion within the solid angle of the surface of any sphere whose center is the angular
point. — Spherical polygon,portion of the surface of a sphere bounded by the arcs of three or more
great circles. — Spherical projection, the projection of the circles of the sphere upon a plane. See
Projection. — Spherical sector. See under Sector. — Spherical segment, the segment of a sphere.
See under Segment. — Spherical triangle,re on the surface of a sphere, bounded by the arcs of
three great circles which intersect each other. — Spherical trigonometry. See Trigonometry.
— Spher"ic*al*ly, adv. — Spher"ic*al*ness, n.
Sphericity
(Sphe*ric"i*ty) n. [Cf. F. sphéricité.] The quality or state of being spherial; roundness; as, the
sphericity of the planets, or of a drop of water.
Sphericle
(Spher"i*cle) n. A small sphere.
Spherics
(Spher"ics) n. (Math.) The doctrine of the sphere; the science of the properties and relations
of the circles, figures, and other magnitudes of a sphere, produced by planes intersecting it; spherical
geometry and trigonometry.
Spherobacteria
(||Sphe`ro*bac*te"ri*a) n. pl.; sing. Spherobacterium [NL. See Sphere, and Bacterium.]
(Biol.) See the Note under Microbacteria.
Spheroconic
(Sphe`ro*con"ic) n. (Geom.) A nonplane curve formed by the intersection of the surface
of an oblique cone with the surface of a sphere whose center is at the vertex of the cone.
Spherograph
(Spher"o*graph) n. [Sphere + -graph.] An instrument for facilitating the practical use of
spherics in navigation and astronomy, being constructed of two cardboards containing various circles,
and turning upon each other in such a manner that any possible spherical triangle may be readily found,
and the measures of the parts read off by inspection.
Spheroid
(Sphe"roid) n. [L. spheroides ball-like, spherical, Gr. sphere + form: cf. F. sphéroïde.] A body
or figure approaching to a sphere, but not perfectly spherical; esp., a solid generated by the revolution of
an ellipse about one of its axes.
Oblate spheroid, Prolate spheroid. See Oblate, Prolate, and Ellipsoid.
Spheroidal
(Sphe*roid"al) a. [Cf. F. sphéroïdal.] Having the form of a spheroid. — Sphe*roid"al*ly,
adv.
Spheroidal state (Physics.), the state of a liquid, as water, when, on being thrown on a surface of
highly heated metal, it rolls about in spheroidal drops or masses, at a temperature several degrees below
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