Hemisphere: meaning, definitions and examples
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hemisphere
[ ˈhɛmɪsˌfɪr ]
geography
A hemisphere is a half of a sphere, often used in geographical terms to refer to half of the Earth, typically divided into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It can also refer to the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, formed by the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line.
Synonyms
Examples of usage
- The Northern Hemisphere experiences summer when the Southern Hemisphere is in winter.
- Geographers study the various climates in different hemispheres.
- The Eastern Hemisphere includes parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
- Meteorologists track storm patterns across the hemisphere.
Translations
Translations of the word "hemisphere" in other languages:
🇵🇹 hemisfério
🇮🇳 अर्धगोल
🇩🇪 Hemisphäre
🇮🇩 belahan bumi
🇺🇦 півкуля
🇵🇱 półkula
🇯🇵 半球
🇫🇷 hémisphère
🇪🇸 hemisferio
🇹🇷 yarım küre
🇰🇷 반구
🇸🇦 نصف الكرة
🇨🇿 polokoule
🇸🇰 polokguľa
🇨🇳 半球
🇸🇮 polobla
🇮🇸 hálfkúlu
🇰🇿 жарты шар
🇬🇪 ნახევარი გ球
🇦🇿 yarım kürə
🇲🇽 hemisferio
Etymology
The term 'hemisphere' comes from the Latin word 'hemisphaerium', which itself stems from the Greek 'hemisphairion'. The Greek word is a combination of 'hemi', meaning 'half', and 'sphaira', meaning 'sphere'. The concept was originally used by ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians who studied the Earth's shape and geographic divisions. Over time, the word evolved in use, primarily in the fields of geography, cartography, and astronomy, to describe not only the halves of the Earth but also other spherical objects. The formal division of the Earth into hemispheres became more prominent during the Age of Exploration and later in modern geography as a way to categorize and understand our planet's surface and climate variations.