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Oct 29, 2018 · hemisphere. (n.) late 14c., hemysperie, in reference to the celestial sphere, from Late Latin hemisphaerium, from Greek hēmisphairion, from hēmi- "half" (see hemi-) + sphaira "sphere" (see sphere). Spelling reformed 16c. Of the Earth, from 1550s; of the brain, 1804. also from late 14c.
The earliest known use of the noun hemisphere is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for hemisphere is from around 1374, in the writing of Geoffrey Chaucer, poet and administrator.
- Overview
- In geometry
- Earth’s four hemispheres
hemisphere, in geometry and geography, half of a sphere. Although any spherical body can be divided into an infinite number of hemispheres, geographers often divide Earth’s surface into four hemispheres that are separated by two great circle routes—that is, lines that represent the shortest distances that can be drawn between two points on the surf...
In geometry, a sphere is the set of all points in three-dimensional space lying the same distance (the radius) from a given point (the center); a hemisphere is half of a sphere, cut along the diameter. The curved surface area and volume of a hemisphere can be calculated by using the equations 2πr2 and (2/3)πr3, respectively. In both cases, r is the...
Earth’s surface is often divided into the Northern and Southern hemispheres and, separately, into the Eastern and Western hemispheres. The geographic Equator, which occurs at 0° latitude, is the partition between the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, with locations north of the Equator being considered part of the former and places south of the Equator making up the latter. The Northern Hemisphere contains 67–68 percent of Earth’s land and includes North America, Central America, Europe, a small part of South America, about half of Africa, and all of mainland Asia. The remaining 32–33 percent of Earth’s terrestrial environments are found in the Southern Hemisphere, which contains the rest of Africa, most of South America, all of Australia and Antarctica, and most of the islands of the Indonesian archipelago (including the island of New Guinea).
Earth’s Eastern and Western hemispheres are divided by the great circle formed by the prime meridian (or Greenwich meridian), which connects Earth’s geographic North and South poles at 0° longitude, and the line at 180° longitude, which roughly corresponds to the International Date Line that bisects the Pacific Ocean. The Eastern Hemisphere lies east of 0° longitude and west of 180° longitude, and it includes almost all of Europe and Africa and all of Asia and Australia. The Western Hemisphere, which contains North America and South America, lies west of 0° longitude and east of 180° longitude. (To ensure that all of Europe and Africa are placed wholly within the Eastern Hemisphere, the boundaries between the Eastern and Western hemispheres are sometimes delineated along longitudes 20° W and 160° E.) About half of Antarctica lies in the Eastern Hemisphere, and about half lies in the Western Hemisphere. Africa is the only continent with parts in each of Earth’s four hemispheres.
- John P. Rafferty
Mar 6, 2024 · Vocabulary. A circle drawn around Earth’s center divides it into two equal halves called hemispheres, or half spheres. Though this can be done in infinite ways. However, there are generally considered to be four hemispheres: Southern, Northern, Eastern, and Western.
If the prime meridian is taken as the boundary, parts of Europe and Africa become part of the Western Hemisphere. The Earth resembles a sphere. (“Sphere” comes from the ancient Greek word sphaira, meaning “ball.”) A sphere can be imagined to be cut in half either horizontally or….
Dictionary definition of hemisphere. Half of a sphere, usually divided by an imaginary plane, such as the equator, that passes through the center of the sphere. "The Northern Hemisphere has a greater landmass than the Southern Hemisphere." Detailed meaning of hemisphere.
Hemisphere comes from the Greek, and combines the prefix hemi-, for "half," with sphere, or "perfectly round ball." We talk about the earth as divided at the equator into the northern and southern hemispheres (or divided at the prime meridian into eastern and western hemispheres).
