different between oblate vs spherical

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??ble?t/ (or IPA^(key): /??ble?t/ for adjective)
• (US) IPA^(key): /??ble?t/

Etymology 1

From French oblat and its source, post-classical Latin obl?tus (“person dedicated to religious life”), a nominal use of the past participle of offer? (“I offer”).

Noun

oblate (plural oblates)

1. (Roman Catholicism) A person dedicated to a life of religion or monasticism, especially a member of an order without religious vows or a lay member of a religious community.
2. A child given up by its parents into the keeping or dedication of a religious order or house.
   • 2007, The Venerable Bede started as an oblate at St Paul's, Jarrow, but by the time of his death in 735 was surely the most learned man in Europe. — Tom Shippey, ‘I Lerne Song’, London Review of Books 29:4, p. 19

Related terms

• oblation
• offer
• offering

Etymology 2

From Late Latin obl?tus, from Latin ob (“in front of, before”) + l?tus (“broad, wide”), (modeled after pr?l?tus (“extended, lengthened”)).

Adjective

oblate (comparative more oblate, superlative most oblate)

1. Flattened or depressed at the poles.

   The Earth is an oblate spheroid.

   • 1922, Why should I not speak to him or to any human being who walks upright upon this oblate orange? — James Joyce, Ulysses
   • 1997, ‘ ’Tis prolate, still,’ with a long dejected Geordie O. ‘Isn’t it…?’ ‘I’m an Astronomer,– trust me, ’tis gone well to oblate.’ — Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon

Translations

Antonyms

• prolate

Related terms

• oblatum

See also

• equidimensional

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

oblate (third-person singular simple present oblates, present participle oblating, simple past and past participle oblated)

1. To offer as either a gift or an oblation.

Anagrams

• boatel, lobate

Italian

Adjective

oblate

1. feminine plural of oblato

Anagrams

• balteo, belato

Latin

Participle

obl?te

1. vocative masculine singular of obl?tus

English

Alternative forms

• sphærical (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin sphericus (+ -al), from Ancient Greek ????????? (sphairikós)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sf???k?l/, /sfi???k?l/

Adjective

spherical (comparative more spherical, superlative most spherical)

1. (geometry) Shaped like a sphere.

   Synonyms: globular, orbicular, round

2. (geometry, not comparable) Of, or pertaining to, spheres.
3. (mathematics) Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.
4. (astrology) Of or relating to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy and astrology, they were set.
   • 1606: William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2

     Knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• spherical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• spherical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• spherical at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• clipshear

Scots

Etymology

From English spherical.

Adjective

spherical

1. spherical