Sphericness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of possessing a rounded, three-dimensional shape that is harmonious and smooth in appearance
2. The characteristic of having a shape that closely resembles a perfect ball or globe
3. The attribute describing an object’s form as smoothly curved and evenly rounded in all directions

Etymology: "Sphericness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "spheric" with the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality. "Spheric" itself comes from "sphere," borrowed into English from Old French "sphere" and Latin "sphaera," which in turn came from Greek "sphaira," a ball or globe. The Greek word was used for a ball in games as well as for the celestial spheres that ancient astronomers imagined surrounding the Earth. The noun "sphere" entered English in the 14th century, and the adjective "spheric" followed in the 1600s, when writers needed a plainer word to describe the shape itself. "-ness" is the native English suffix that has been attached to adjectives since Old English, so this noun belongs to the same family as "roundness" or "smoothness." Because "sphericness" is a derivative built from transparent parts, it has few surprises of its own. Its main use is in technical or philosophical writing, where a writer wants to name the quality of being spherical without using a longer phrase.

Synonyms: roundness, sphericity

Antonyms: flatness