sphere

UK/sfɪə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/sfɪː/

sphere noun: a surface in three dimensions consisting of all points equidistant from a center. .

Image: Geek3, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sphere (plural spheres)

A surface in three dimensions consisting of all points equidistant from a center. .

Synonyms:

2-sphere
An object which appears to be bounded by a sphere; a round object, a ball.
- Of celestial bodies, first the sun, / A mighty sphere, he framed.1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- So your orientation changes a little bit but it sinks in that the world is a sphere, and you're going around it, sometimes under it, sideways, or over it.2011 July 6, Piers Sellers, The Guardian
Synonyms:

orb
(archaic) The celestial sphere: the edge of the heavens, imagined as a hollow globe within which celestial bodies appear to be embedded.
- Though cold and darkness longer hang somewhere, / Yet Phoebus equally lights all the Sphere.1635, John Donne, His parting form her
- Resistless rolls the illimitable sphere, / And one great circle forms the unmeasured year.1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 190
(historical) Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres).
- ſooner ſhall the Sun fall from his Spheare,
  Than Tamburlaine be ſlaine or ouercome.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- It is more simplicitie to teach our children[…][t]he knowledge of the starres, and the motion of the eighth spheare, before their owne.1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 153
An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc.
(figuratively) The region in which something or someone is active; one's province, domain.
- sphere of influence
- ...while his sweet and gentle niece would be a charming companion for Francesca; and he thought, with a glow of affection long unfelt, that Lucy Aylmer must inevitably make a friend whose future kindness might add much to her happiness. Both were at present placed out of their sphere: but the one...1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 203
Synonyms:

area, field, orbit, sector
The natural, normal, or proper place (of something).
- in one's sphere
Synonyms:

element
The set of all points in three-dimensional Euclidean space (or n-dimensional space, in topology) that are a fixed distance from a fixed point .
(dated) The domain of reference of a proposition, subject, or predicate, or the totality of the particular subjects to which it applies.
- In point of fact, so often as we think a subject as partially included within the sphere of a predicate, eo ipso we think it as partially, that is, particularly, excluded therefrom.a. 1856, William Hamilton, “Appendix III: Quantification of Predicate,—Immediate Inference,—Conversion,—Opposition”, in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, volume 2, published 1860, page 526
- All categorical propositions necessarily imply the existence of their subjects in the appropriate sphere; in affirmative propositions this involves the existence of the predicate in the same sphere; but in negative propositions the predicate does not necessarily exist in that particular sphere...1896, James Welton, A Manual of Logic, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 213
A food preparation comprising a flavorful liquid treated by spherification to produce spheres.

Synonyms:

caviar

Verb

sphere (third-person singular simple present spheres, present participle sphering, simple past and past participle sphered)

(transitive) To place in a sphere, or among the spheres; to ensphere.
- The glorious planet Sol / In noble eminence enthroned and sphered / Amidst the other.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Sphere all your lights around, above;
  ⁠Sleep, gentle heavens, before the prow;
  ⁠Sleep, gentle winds, as he sleeps now,
  My friend, the brother of my love.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
(transitive) To make round or spherical; to perfect.
- sphered Whole1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

sphere meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

sphere in Hindi

spherical physical object: गोला golā
mathematics: regular three-dimensional object: गोला golā

sphere in Marathi

sphere: गोल gol
sphere, domain; field of activity or study: क्षेत्र kṣetra

sphere in Urdu

spherical physical object: گولا golā
mathematics: regular three-dimensional object: گولا golā

More languagesFewer languages

sphere in Bengali: গোলক gōlok
sphere in Telugu: గోళము gōḷamu
sphere in Malayalam: ഗോളം gōḷaṁ
sphere in Kannada: ಗೋಳ gōḷa
sphere in Odia: ମଣ୍ଡଳ maṇḍaḷa
sphere in Sanskrit: विषय viṣaya
sphere in Sinhala: ගෝලය gōlaya
sphere in Pashto: پنډوس panḍos, غونډاری ǧunḍāray
sphere in Tagalog: timbulog, spero
sphere in Arabic: فَلْكَة falka, كُرَة kura
sphere in Malay: sfera
sphere in Indonesian: bola
sphere in Thai: ทรงกลม song-glom
sphere in Vietnamese: mặt cầu, quả cầu
sphere in Myanmar: နယ်ပယ် naipai, အလုံး a.lum:

Examples of sphere in a sentence

Both were at present placed out of their sphere: but the one would in all probability have it greatly in her power to cherish and aid the other.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to...
They thought – originally on grounds derived from religion – that each thing or person had its or his proper sphere, to overstep which is ‘unjust’.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:

All 40 example sentences with sphere

Synonyms of sphere

Antonyms

asphere

All synonyms and antonyms of sphere

Forms of sphere

Noun
plural	spheres
alternative form (obsolete)	sphaere
alternative form (obsolete)	sphære
alternative form (obsolete)	sphear
alternative form (obsolete)	spheare
Verb
third-person singular present	spheres
present participle	sphering
past participle	sphered
past	sphered

Plural of sphere: spheres

Origin of sphere

From Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Late Latin sphēra, earlier Latin sphaera (“ball, globe, celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”), of unknown origin. Not related to superficially similar Persian سپهر (sepehr, “sky”) . Displaced Old English cliewen, þoþor, and æppel.

Words formed from sphere

Phrases with sphere

10 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with sphere

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about sphere

What does sphere mean?: Sphere means a surface in three dimensions consisting of all points equidistant from a center. .
What is sphere in Hindi?: Sphere in Hindi is गोला (golā). See Sphere meaning in Hindi.
How do you use sphere in a sentence?: Both were at present placed out of their sphere: but the one would in all probability have it greatly in her power to cherish and aid the other.
What part of speech is sphere?: Sphere can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce sphere?: Sphere is pronounced /sfɪə/ (UK).
What is the plural of sphere?: The plural of sphere is spheres.

Words near sphere in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: sphere (page history and authors); sphere (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); क्षेत्र (Marathi) (page history and authors); ഗോളം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ମଣ୍ଡଳ (Odia) (page history and authors); विषय (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sphere.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sphere.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sphere. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.