hemisphere

See also: hémisphère

English

Alternative forms

• hemisphære (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin hemisphaerium, from Ancient Greek ἡμισφαίριον (hēmisphaírion), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”). Equivalent to hemi- +‎ sphere. Displaced native Old English healftrendel (literally “half-sphere”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛmɪsfɪə/
• (US) enPR: hĕ'mĭsfîr, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛmɪsfɪəɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

hemisphere (plural hemispheres)

1. (astronomy, astrology) Half of the celestial sphere, as divided by either the ecliptic or the celestial equator [from 14th c.].
2. (figuratively) A realm or domain of activity [1503].
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 91–92:

     Love is the Columbus of our moral world, and opens, at some period or other, a new hemisphere to our view.

3. (geography) Half of the Earth, such as the Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, Western Hemisphere or Eastern Hemisphere, Land Hemisphere, Water Hemisphere etc. [1550s].
4. (geometry) Any half-sphere, formed by a plane intersecting the center of a sphere. [1580s].
5. (cartography) A map or projection of a celestial or terrestrial hemisphere [1706].
6. (anatomy) Either of the two halves of the cerebrum. [1804].

Synonyms

• (astronomy: half of the celestial sphere): celestial hemisphere
• (geography: half of the terrestrial sphere): terrestrial hemisphere
• (figuratively: a domain of thought or action): sphere
• (geometry: half of a sphere): half-sphere, half sphere
• (anatomy: either of the two lobes of the cerebellum): cerebral hemisphere
• (cartography: a map showing a projection of a hemisphere): planisphere

Derived terms

• Eastern Hemisphere
• eastern hemisphere
• Hemisphere
• Hemispherian
• hemispherian
• Hemispheric
• hemispheric
• hemispherical
• hemispherically
• hemispheroid
• hemispheroidal
• hemispheroidally
• Land Hemisphere
• Magdeburg hemisphere
• northern hemisphere
• Northern Hemisphere
• southern hemisphere
• Southern Hemisphere
• Water Hemisphere
• Western Hemisphere
• western hemisphere

Related terms

• demisphere
• hemi-
• semisphere
• sphere

Descendants

• → Welsh: hemisffer

Translations

half of the celestial sphere

• Afrikaans: hemisfeer
• Bulgarian: полусфе́ра (bg) f (polusféra), полукълбо́ (bg) n (polukǎlbó)
• Finnish: puolipallo (fi)
• Galician: hemisferio (gl) m
• Kazakh: жартышар (jartyşar)
• Latin: hēmisphaerium n
• Russian: полусфе́ра (ru) f (polusféra), полуша́рие (ru) n (polušárije), гемисфе́ра (ru) f (gemisféra)
• Tagalog: hatimbulog, hating-daigdig

realm or domain of activity

• Afrikaans: hemisfeer
• Finnish: toimintapiiri

half of the Earth

• Afrikaans: hemisfeer
• Albanian: hemisferë (sq) f
• Arabic: نِصْف كُرَة m (niṣf kura)
• Armenian: կիսագունդ (hy) (kisagund)
• Asturian: hemisferiu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: yarımkürə
• Belarusian: паўша́р'е n (paŭšárʺje), паўку́ля f (paŭkúlja)
• Bengali: গোলার্ধ (bn) (gōlardho)
• Bulgarian: полукълбо́ (bg) n (polukǎlbó), хемисфе́ра (bg) f (hemisféra)
• Burmese: ကမ္ဘာလုံးခြမ်း (my) (kambhalum:hkram:)
• Catalan: hemisferi (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 半球 (zh) (bànqiú)

• Czech: polokoule (cs) f
• Danish: halvkugle (da) c
• Dutch: halfrond (nl) n, hemisfeer (nl) m
• Esperanto: duonsfero, hemisfero, duonglobo
• Estonian: poolkera
• Finnish: pallonpuolisko (fi), hemisfääri (fi)
• French: hémisphère (fr) m
• Galician: hemisferio (gl) m
• Georgian: ნახევარსფერო (naxevarspero), ჰემისფერო (hemispero)
• German: Hemisphäre (de) f, Halbkugel (de) f (rare, e.g., in Erdhalbkugel (de) f "half the Earth")
• Greek: ημισφαίριο (el) m (imisfaírio)
• Gujarati: ગોલાર્ધ m (golārdh), ગોળાર્ધ m (goḷārdh)
• Hebrew: המיספירה (he), חֲצִי כַּדּוּר m (khatsi kadúr)
• Hindi: गोलार्ध (hi) m (golārdh)
• Hungarian: félgömb (hu), félteke (hu)
• Icelandic: hálfkúla f, hvel n
• Ido: misfero (io)
• Indonesian: belahan bumi
• Italian: emisfero (it)
• Japanese: 半球 (ja) (はんきゅう, hankyū)
• Kazakh: жартышар (jartyşar)
• Khmer: អឌ្ឍគោល (ʼatthĕəʼ kool)
• Korean: 반구(半球) (ko) (ban'gu)
• Kyrgyz: жарым шар (jarım şar)
• Lao: ຊີກໂລກ (sīk lōk)
• Latvian: puslode f
• Lithuanian: pusrutulis (lt) m
• Macedonian: полутопка f (polutopka), хемисфера f (hemisfera)
• Malay: hemisfera (ms)
• Maori: tuakoi
• Mongolian: тал бөмбөрцөг (tal bömbörcög), бөмбөрцгийн тал (bömbörcgiin tal)
• Norwegian: halvkule (no) m or f
• Occitan: emisfèri (oc) m
• Old English: healftrendel m
• Pashto: نيمه کره (ps) f (nímakorá), نصف کره f (nesfekorá)
• Persian: نیمکره (fa) (nimkore)
• Polish: półkula (pl) f
• Portuguese: hemisfério (pt) m, hemisfério (pt) m
• Romanian: emisferă (ro) f
• Russian: полуша́рие (ru) n (polušárije), гемисфе́ра (ru) f (gemisféra) (literary, rare)
• Scottish Gaelic: leth-chruinne m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хемисфе́ра f

  Roman: hemisféra (sh) f

• Slovak: pologuľa f
• Slovene: polobla (sl) f
• Spanish: hemisferio (es) m
• Swedish: halvklot (sv) n, hemisfär (sv) c
• Tagalog: hating-daigdig, hatimbulog
• Tajik: нимкура (nimkura)
• Telugu: అర్ధగోళము (ardhagōḷamu)
• Thai: ซีกโลก (th) (sîik-lôok)
• Turkish: yarımküre (tr)
• Turkmen: ýarymşar
• Ukrainian: півку́ля f (pivkúlja)
• Urdu: نیم کرہ (nim kura), نصف کره (nisf kura)
• Uyghur: يېرىم شار (yërim shar)
• Uzbek: yarim shar
• Vietnamese: bán cầu (vi) (半球)
• Zazaki: nimkura c

any half-sphere

• Afrikaans: hemisfeer
• Arabic: نِصْف كُرَة m (niṣf kura)
• Armenian: կիսագունդ (hy) (kisagund)
• Asturian: hemisferiu (ast) m
• Catalan: hemisferi (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 半球 (zh) (bànqiú)

• Czech: polokoule (cs) f
• Danish: halvkugle (da)
• Dutch: hemisfeer (nl) m
• Esperanto: duonsfero, hemisfero
• Finnish: puolipallo (fi)
• French: hémisphère (fr) m
• Galician: hemisferio (gl) m
• German: Halbkugel (de) f
• Greek: ημισφαίριο (el) n (imisfaírio)
• Hungarian: félgömb (hu)
• Ido: misfero (io)
• Italian: emisfero (it)
• Japanese: 半球体 (はんきゅうたい, hankyūtai), 半球 (ja) (はんきゅう, hankyū)
• Macedonian: полутопка f (polutopka)
• Malay: hemisfera (ms)
• Norwegian: halvkule (no)
• Old English: healftrendel m
• Persian: نیمکره (fa) (nimkore), نیمگوی (nimguy)
• Polish: półkula (pl) f
• Portuguese: hemisfério (pt) m
• Romanian: emisferă (ro) f
• Russian: полуша́рие (ru) n (polušárije)
• Spanish: hemisferio (es) m, semiesfera (es) f
• Swedish: halvklot (sv) class \n, hemisfär (sv) c
• Tagalog: hatimbulog
• Telugu: అర్ధగోళము (ardhagōḷamu)
• Thai: ซีกโลก (th) (sîik-lôok)
• Turkish: yarımküre (tr) sg
• Zazaki: nimkura, nimkıst c

cartography: map or projection of a celestial or terrestrial hemisphere

• Finnish: pallonpuolisko (fi) (terrestrial), tähtitaivas (fi) (celestial)

lobe of cerebrum — see cerebral hemisphere

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} hemisfer (id)

See also

• dome