Sphér'ic or Sphér'ic-al, a.

a. [Fr. sphérique, Sp. esferico, It. sferico, Lat. sphæricus, Gr. σφαιρικός].

1. Having the form of a sphere; like a sphere; globular; orbicular; as, a spherical body.
2. Pertaining to a sphere.
3. Relating to the heavenly orbs; planetary.

We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars, as if we were villains by spherical predominance. Shak. Though the stars were suns, and over-burned Their spheric limitations. E. B. Browning. Spherical angle, the angle formed on the surface of a sphere by the arcs of two great circles. — Spherical case-shot, the same as SHRAPNEL, q. v. — Spherical co-ordinates. See CO-ORDINATES. — Spherical excess (Trigonometry), the excess of the sum of the three angles of a spherical triangle over 180°. — Spherical geometry, that branch of geometry which treats of spherical magnitudes; the doctrine of the sphere, especially of the circles described on its surface. — Spherical lune (Geom.), a portion of the surface of a sphere included between two great semicircles having a common diameter. — Spherical polygon, a portion of the surface of a sphere bounded by the arcs of three or more great circles. — Spherical projections, the projections of the circles of the sphere upon a plane. — Spherical sector. See SECTOR. — Spherical segment, the segment of a sphere. See SEGMENT. — Spherical triangle, a figure on the surface of a sphere, bounded by the arcs of three great circles which intersect each other. — Spherical trigonometry, that branch of trigonometry which treats of the relations which exist between the several angles and sides of a spherical triangle, and the methods of computing any of these parts when any three others of them are given. Math. Dict.