Standard Lemma guide

spherical

adj · 7 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈsfɛɹɪkəl/
  • /ˈsfiːɹɪkəl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛɹɪkəl
  • CMU ARPABET: S F EH1 R IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Shaped as a sphere; being a sphere.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: spheric, spheral, globular, orbicular, round

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of, or pertaining to, spheres.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of or relating to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy and astrology, they were set.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astrology, human-sciences, mysticism, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Of a multivariate probability distribution, to have a covariance matrix equal to the identity matrix up to a multiplicative factor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

Examples

  • a spherical Gaussian distribution

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

of or relating to spheres or resembling a sphere

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • spherical geometry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: nonspherical

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

having the shape of a sphere or ball- Zane Grey

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a spherical object
  • nearly orbicular in shape
  • little globular houses like mud-wasp nests

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ball-shaped, global, globose, globular, orbicular, spheric

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

English spheric [from Latin sphaericus, from Ancient Greek σφαιρικός (sphairikós)] + -al.

Across languages

Translations

78 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كُرَوِيّ (kurawiyy) — shaped like a sphere
  • Armenian: գնդաձեւ (gndajew) — shaped like a sphere
  • Assamese: ঘূৰণীয়া (ghuronia) — shaped like a sphere
  • Assamese: গোল (gül) — shaped like a sphere
  • Assamese: টুপুৰা (tupura) — shaped like a sphere
  • Asturian: esféricu — shaped like a sphere
  • Bulgarian: сферичен (sferičen) — shaped like a sphere
  • Bulgarian: кълбовиден (kǎlboviden) — shaped like a sphere
  • Burmese: လုံး (lum:) — shaped like a sphere
  • Catalan: esfèric — shaped like a sphere
  • Chinese Mandarin: 球形的 (qiúxíng de) — shaped like a sphere
  • Chinese Mandarin: 球面的 (qiúmiàn de) — shaped like a sphere
  • Czech: kulovitý — shaped like a sphere
  • Danish: sfærisk — shaped like a sphere
  • Dutch: bolvormig — shaped like a sphere
  • Esperanto: sfereca — shaped like a sphere
  • Estonian: sfääriline — shaped like a sphere
  • Finnish: pallomainen — shaped like a sphere
  • Finnish: pyöreä — shaped like a sphere
  • French: sphérique — shaped like a sphere
  • Galician: esférico — shaped like a sphere
  • Georgian: სფერული (speruli) — shaped like a sphere
  • German: kugelförmig — shaped like a sphere
  • German: sphärisch — shaped like a sphere
  • German: kugelig — shaped like a sphere
  • Greek: σφαιρικός (sfairikós) — shaped like a sphere
  • Hindi: वलयाकार (valyākār) — shaped like a sphere
  • Hindi: गोलाकार (golākār) — shaped like a sphere
  • Hungarian: gömbölyű — shaped like a sphere
  • Indonesian: bulat — shaped like a sphere
  • Irish: sféarúil — shaped like a sphere
  • Italian: sferico — shaped like a sphere
  • Latin: globōsus — shaped like a sphere
  • Latin: sphaericus — shaped like a sphere
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sfærisk — shaped like a sphere
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sfærisk — shaped like a sphere
  • Occitan: esferic — shaped like a sphere
  • Pashto: غونډ (ǧunḍ) — shaped like a sphere
  • Plautdietsch: runt — shaped like a sphere
  • Polish: sferyczny — shaped like a sphere
  • Polish: kulisty — shaped like a sphere
  • Portuguese: esférico — shaped like a sphere
  • Romanian: sferic — shaped like a sphere
  • Russian: сфери́ческий (sferíčeskij) — shaped like a sphere
  • Scots: spherical — shaped like a sphere
  • Spanish: esférico — shaped like a sphere
  • Sundanese: buleud — shaped like a sphere
  • Swedish: sfärisk — shaped like a sphere
  • Swedish: klotformad — shaped like a sphere
  • Tagalog: timbulugin — shaped like a sphere
  • Tagalog: timbulog — shaped like a sphere
  • Ottoman Turkish: یومرو (yumru) — shaped like a sphere
  • Ottoman Turkish: طوپاق (topak) — shaped like a sphere
  • Ukrainian: сфери́чний (sferýčnyj) — shaped like a sphere
  • Ukrainian: куля́стий (kuljástyj) — shaped like a sphere
  • Asturian: esféricu — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Catalan: esfèric — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Chinese Mandarin: 球形的 (qiúxíng de) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Chinese Mandarin: 球面的 (qiúmiàn de) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Danish: sfærisk — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Esperanto: sfera — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Finnish: pallo (pallo-) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • French: sphérique — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Galician: esférico — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • German: kugelförmig — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Greek: σφαιρικός (sfairikós) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Italian: sferico — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Kazakh: домалақ (domalaq) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sfærisk — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sfærisk — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Pashto: غونډ (ǧunḍ) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Polish: sferyczny — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Portuguese: esférico — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Russian: сфери́ческий (sferíčeskij) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Spanish: esférico — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Tagalog: timbulugin — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Tagalog: timbulog — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
  • Ukrainian: сфери́чний (sferýčnyj) — of or relating to a sphere or spheres
Real reading context

spherical in complete knowledge articles