Standard Lemma guide

photosphere

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A visible surface layer of a star, and especially that of a sun.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A 360-degree panoramic photograph that provides a full view of a scene from all angles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: arts, hobbies, lifestyle, photography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the intensely luminous surface of a star (especially the sun)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: surface

History

Etymology

From photo- + -sphere.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: fotosfeer — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Basque: fotosfera — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Catalan: fotosfera — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Chinese Mandarin: 光球 (guāngqiú) — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Danish: fotosfære — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Finnish: fotosfääri — a visible surface layer of a star
  • German: Photosphäre — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Greek: φωτόσφαιρα (fotósfaira) — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Icelandic: ljóshvolf — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Japanese: 光球 (kōkyū) — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Korean: 광구 (gwanggu) — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fotosfære — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fotosfære — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Polish: fotosfera — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Portuguese: fotosfera — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Russian: фотосфе́ра (fotosféra) — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Spanish: fotosfera — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Tagalog: sugbulog — a visible surface layer of a star
  • Vietnamese: quang cầu — a visible surface layer of a star