■ noun
1》 a round solid figure, with every point on its surface equidistant from its centre.
2》 each of a series of revolving concentrically arranged spherical shells in which celestial bodies were formerly thought to be set in a fixed relationship.
↘ chiefly literary a celestial body.
↘ literary the sky perceived as a vault upon or in which celestial bodies are represented as lying.
↘a globe representing the earth.
3》 an area of activity, interest, or expertise.
■ verb archaic enclose in or form into a ~.
Phrases
music (or harmony ) of the ~s the natural harmonic tones supposedly produced by the movement of the celestial ~s or the bodies fixed in them.
Derivatives
spheral adjective ( archaic ).
Origin
ME: from OFr. espere , from late L. sphera , from Gk sphaira 'ball'.