Globose

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Shaped like a sphere or globe; having a round, ball-like form
2. Having the form of a ball or globe, typically round and three-dimensional
3. Exhibiting a shape that closely resembles a sphere, with curves all around

Etymology: "Globose" is a plain borrowing from Latin "globosus", meaning round as a ball or spherical. The Latin adjective itself grows from "globus", a mass, sphere or ball, so the English word carries the same picture of something rounded like a globe. It is a learned, straightforward inheritance from classical Latin rather than a word that passed through everyday speech first. The shape of the word is the Latin suffix "-osus", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning full of or having the quality of that noun. Attached to "globus", it produces the idea of being full of roundness, which is why the word works so neatly for objects that bulge outward like a ball. English writers have used it mainly in botany and zoology, where a rounded structure needs a precise term.

Synonyms: spherical, round, ball-like, orbicular, bulbous

Antonyms: flat, angular, edged, asymmetric, irregular