sphere

 
Pronunciation: /sfɪə/

noun

  • 1a round solid figure, or its surface, with every point on its surface equidistant from its centre.
  • a spherical object; a ball or globe: the markers on the route included two conspicuous black spheres
  • a globe representing the earth: the room was littered with books, maps, and spheres
  • chiefly literary a celestial body: he sometimes took out his telescope to make sure the spheres were still revolving in good order
  • literary the sky perceived as a vault upon or in which celestial bodies are represented as lying.
  • each of a series of revolving concentrically arranged spherical shells in which celestial bodies were formerly thought to be set in a fixed relationship.
  • 2an area of activity, interest, or expertise; a section of society or an aspect of life distinguished and unified by a particular characteristic: political reforms to match those in the economic sphere

verb

[with object] archaic
  • enclose in or as if in a sphere: mourners, sphered by their dark garb
  • form into a rounded or perfect whole: you, hitherto, have still had goodness sphered within your eyes

Phrases

music (or harmony) of the spheres

the natural harmonic tones supposedly produced by the movement of the celestial spheres or the bodies fixed in them.

sphere of influence (or interest)

a country or area in which another country has power to affect developments though it has no formal authority: there was increasing friction between Russia and Germany concerning their respective spheres of influence in eastern Europe
a field or area in which an individual or organization has power to affect events and developments: we need a system in which agencies have clearer boundaries to their sphere of influence

Derivatives

spheral

adjective ( archaic)

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French espere, from late Latin sphera, earlier sphaera, from Greek sphaira 'ball'