spheresphere /sfɪə $ sfɪr/ ●●○ AWL noun [countable] 
Word Origin
television’s increasing role in the political spherepublic/private sphere Women have often been excluded from positions of power in the public sphere.3somebody’s/something’s sphere of influence a person’s, country’s, organization’s etc sphere of influence is the area where they have power to change thingsCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2adjectivesthe public sphere (=public positions and activities)· Men still controlled the public sphere.the private sphere· After the war, women refused to return quietly to the private sphere.the political sphere· Unions became more active in the political sphere.the economic sphere· Will the reform programme be extended beyond the economic sphere?the domestic sphere· More women started to be trained for tasks outside the domestic sphere.the social sphere· The following chapter considers the influence of factors in the wider social sphere.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINsphere
ExamplesOrigin:
1200-1300 Old French espere, from Latin sphaera, from Greek sphaira ‘ball, sphere’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- At the top of each column is a perfect sphere of white marble.
- Mitchell's greatest achievements have been in the diplomatic sphere.
- She has a good reputation in scientific spheres.
- The volume of a sphere is equal to twice the square of its radius, multiplied by pi.
- Cozy is a generous description of the inside of the sphere.
- Each sphere is thus in contact with eight other spheres.
- Officially, children no longer relegate women to some less valued domestic sphere.
- Others disagree, and find the determinant factors in the economic sphere.
- The public sphere can not be left entirely to the private marketplace.
- Thus the sphere of influence of Tyneside spreads far out into the surrounding countryside and along the coast.
- Wars are waged, as ever, over real territory and real spheres of influence.
THESAURUStypes of shapes► square
Collocations a shape with four straight sides that are equal in length and four angles of 90 degrees
► circle a round shape that is like an O
► semicircle half a circle
► triangle a shape with three straight sides and three angles
► rectangle a shape with four straight sides and four angles of 90 degrees
► oval a shape like a circle, but that is longer than it is wide
► cylinder an object in the shape of a tube
► cube a solid object with six equal square sides
► pyramid a shape with a square base and four triangular sides that meet in a point at the top
► sphere a shape like a ball
Longman Language Activatoran area of knowledge, duties, study etc► area an area of knowledge, activity, or responsibility: · They fund research in areas like information technology.area of: · The President has won new support because of his reforms in the areas of health and education.· Nordstrom does research in the area of heart disease.
► field a subject or area of study, especially one that you know a lot about: · Keith has a degree in engineering, but couldn't find a job in his field.the field: · Laycock is one of the most brilliant psychiatrists in the field.field of: · There are good employment opportunities in the field of healthcare, particularly nursing.
► branch one part of a large area of study or knowledge: branch of: · Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics.· He's interested in the branch of international law that deals with war crimes.
► world an area of activity or work - use this especially when talking about all the people who work in that area: business/fashion/hi-tech etc world: · Jaffrii is now one of the richest and most successful men in the business world.· the fashion worldthe world of something: · the fast-paced world of technology
► domain formal an area of activity, interest, or knowledge to which something belongs: · The abortion issue has shifted from the political to the religious domain.male/female domain: · In the US, manual labor remains a male domain.
► realm formal a general area of thought, interest, or knowledge: · the spiritual realmthe realm of something: · new discoveries in the realm of science
► sphere an area of activity, interest, knowledge etc, especially one that people consider should be respected or admired: · Mitchell's greatest achievements have been in the diplomatic sphere.in scientific/political etc spheres: · She has a solid reputation in scientific spheres.
an object shaped like a ball► ball · Shape the cookie dough into balls and put them in the refrigerator.· When hedgehogs are in danger, they curl their bodies into tight balls.ball of · The kitten was playing with a ball of yarn.· Comets are balls of ice and dirt that circle the sun.
► sphere shaped like a ball - use this in technical contexts: · At the top of each column is a perfect sphere of white marble.· The volume of a sphere is equal to twice the square of its radius, multiplied by pi.
► globe a ball-shaped object, especially one that is used for decoration: · For the occasion the town square was lit up by coloured globes strung together.· The stuffed birds had been encased in glass globes.
WORD SETS► Mathsabacus, nounalgebra, nounangle, nounarc, nounarea, nounarithmetic, nounarithmetic, adjectivearithmetic progression, nounaxis, nounbar chart, nounbar graph, nounbase, nounbinomial, nounbisect, verbBoolean, adjectiveC, nouncalculator, nouncalculus, nouncanonical, adjectivechord, nouncipher, nouncircumference, nouncircumscribe, verbcompass, nouncomplementary, adjectivecomputation, nouncompute, verbconcentric, adjectivecone, nouncongruent, adjectiveconical, adjectiveconstant, nouncontain, verbcoordinate, nouncoordinate, adjectivecos, cosine, nouncube, nouncubic, adjectivecurvature, nouncurve, nouncut, verbdeci-, prefixdeviation, noundiagonal, adjectivediameter, noundifferential calculus, noundigit, noundimension, noundomain, nouneccentric, adjectiveellipse, nounelliptical, adjectiveequal, adjectiveequal, verbequals sign, nounequation, nounequilateral triangle, nounexponential, adjectiveexpress, verbexpression, nounface, nounfigure, nounflow chart, nounformula, nounfraction, nounfractional, adjectivefunction, noungeometric, adjectivegeometry, noungraph, noungraphically, adverbgraph paper, noungrid, nounHCF, helix, nounheptagon, nounhexagon, nounhistogram, nounhypotenuse, nounimperial, adjectiveimproper fraction, nouninfinity, nouninformation theory, nouninnumerate, adjectiveinto, prepositioninverse, adjectiveisosceles triangle, nounline graph, log, nounlogarithm, nounlong division, nounlozenge, nounmath, nounmathematical, adjectivemathematician, nounmathematics, nounmatrix, nounmean, adjectivemedian, nounmedian, adjectivemetric, adjectiveminus, prepositionminus, nounminus, adjectiveminus sign, nounminute, nounmultiplication, nounmultiplication sign, nounmultiplication table, nounmultiply, verbN, nounnumber, nounnumerate, adjectivenumeration, nounoblong, adjectiveobtuse angle, nounoctagon, nounoval, nounparabola, nounparallel, adjectiveparallelogram, nounpentagon, nounpercentage, nounperimeter, nounperpendicular, nounpi, nounpictogram, nounpie chart, nounplane, nounplane geometry, nounplus, prepositionplus, nounplus, adjectiveplus sign, nounpolygon, nounpolyhedron, nounpower, nounprism, nounprobability, nounproof, nounproportion, nounproposition, nounprotractor, nounquadrangle, nounquadrant, nounquadratic equation, nounquadri-, prefixquadrilateral, nounradius, nounratio, nounrectangle, nounrectilinear, adjectiverecur, verbrhombus, nounright angle, nounright-angled triangle, nounroot, nounruler, nounscale, nounscalene triangle, nounscatter diagram, section, nounsegment, nounsemicircle, nounset square, nounsine, nounslide rule, nounsolid, adjectivesolid, nounsolution, nounsolve, verbsphere, nounsquare, adjectivesquare, nounsquare, verbsquare, adverbsquarely, adverbsquare root, nounsubset, nounsubtract, verbsubtraction, nounsum, nounsurface area, nounsymmetrical, adjectivesymmetry, nountangent, nounterm, nountheorem, nounthreefold, adjectivetimes, prepositiontrapezium, nountriangle, nountrigonometry, nountwo-dimensional, adjectivevalue, nounvariable, nounvector, nounVenn diagram, nounvertex, nounvertical, adjectivevolume, nounwork, verbX, nounx-axis, nouny-axis, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 2adjectives► the public sphere
Word family (=public positions and activities)· Men still controlled the public sphere.
► the private sphere· After the war, women refused to return quietly to the private sphere.
► the political sphere· Unions became more active in the political sphere.
► the economic sphere· Will the reform programme be extended beyond the economic sphere?
► the domestic sphere· More women started to be trained for tasks outside the domestic sphere.
► the social sphere· The following chapter considers the influence of factors in the wider social sphere.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE► concentric· Thus the total number of concentric spheres in the Eudoxian system was twenty-seven.
► cultural· There has always been the suspicion that values applied in cultural and moral spheres were far from impartial.· In contrast, figures outside the high cultural sphere often consciously try to abandon their sense of self.· They formed their own subcultures within the main cultural sphere.· It has brought economics back to the cultural sphere, to the things that affect people's daily lives and pleasures.· The role of the state was even more pronounced in Berlin in the cultural sphere.
► different· Each research worker took part in a different sphere ... The published records about Banbury were analysed.· In their different spheres, Rice and Albers both performed another important role typical of leaders of Great Groups.· There are cases in quite different spheres which suggest a perceived considerable importance in vertical arrangements.· Other values from different spheres of activity were transposed to the political sphere to justify the move.
► domestic· Such circular buildings are not confined just to the domestic sphere, as those found in a religious context clearly demonstrate.· Officially, children no longer relegate women to some less valued domestic sphere.· There were still some important differences among the nationalities, but these related primarily to the domestic sphere.· They may bring work such as farming, weaving, or sculpting into their domestic sphere.· Most socialising had been concentrated within the private domestic sphere with their female kin and children.· Labourers were found in the docks, railways, factories and domestic spheres, many of them employed on a casual basis.· In the domestic sphere the policy was equally fundamental, for tariff reform was seen as the antithesis of socialism.
► economic· New institutions were created in the constitutional, political and economic spheres, and are still being developed.· In any case, the economic sphere is not the only source of surprising responses to various discontents these days.· Others disagree, and find the determinant factors in the economic sphere.· Self-reliance was also promoted in other economic spheres, albeit modestly.· However, like Rawls, Dworkin's commitment to equality in the economic sphere is somewhat limited.· But how far would the reform programme be extended beyond the economic sphere?· In the economic sphere we know that the free market is the best guarantee of responsiveness to choice and change.· Medieval women were not without authority in the familial and economic spheres even if there was no place for them in public politics.
► military· Justus Lipsius was the classical scholar who introduced him into the military sphere.· These norms are rendered specific to the military sphere.
► other· In other spheres the results of the Poltava survey were closely reminiscent of the Nikol'skaia findings.· Self-reliance was also promoted in other economic spheres, albeit modestly.· He clearly favours a state which involves itself essentially through monetary transaction rather than direct intervention in other more qualitative spheres of life.· In every other sphere of historical enquiry, new material is acknowledged.· Each sphere is thus in contact with eight other spheres.· Trade interested him now, as other intelligence spheres had done in harder days.· In other spheres attempts to increase productivity had been blocked.· For, as in other spheres, the contribution of amateurs is often at least as significant and valuable as that of professionals.
► political· He drew attention to the difference between exchanges in the market and in the political sphere.· This is the only way in which a strategy for the political sphere can be developed.· In so doing I depart somewhat from studies of working-class involvement in the formal political sphere during the twentieth century.· The gains to be made in the political sphere are, as Chapter S will show, more ambiguous and contradictory.· Modern bureaucracies had also developed partly as a result of democratic tendencies in the political sphere.· Nevertheless, control does not entail specific effects in the economic, political and cultural-ideological spheres.· New institutions were created in the constitutional, political and economic spheres, and are still being developed.· This orientation to the political sphere conditions internal management organization and culture.
► private· Without undervaluing the private sphere itself, we can still say that this arrangement works to the advantage of men.· Women and children were relegated to the private, natural sphere where different rules applied.· Women used their supposedly greater spirituality as a further justification for transcending the confines of the private sphere.· They were seen instead as being naturally subject to their husbands and necessarily confined to the private sphere.· Most socialising had been concentrated within the private domestic sphere with their female kin and children.· For most people, identity derives from the private sphere, not from work and public affairs.· The private sphere becomes the natural home of modern man.
► public· In many respects it seemed that feminist aims regarding women's rights in the public sphere had been achieved.· The public sphere can not be left entirely to the private marketplace.· In common with Butler and Florence Nightingale, illness related to the strain experienced by middle-class women who moved into the public sphere.· Men still controlled the public sphere and often the private.· The cultural move from an autonomous and independent sculpture back to the public sphere inevitably raises the spectre of popular culture.· In the public sphere, women must assume sufficient power to change the cultural imagery and the political landscape.· What nuclear families want from the public sphere and what those living outside nuclear families want are difficult to reconcile.
► separate· How do artists reconcile the twin comments of what appear to be separate spheres of activity-the aesthetic and the political?· Work and family were seen as separate spheres.· Legislation now produced separate apparatuses and spheres of activity, with distinctive forms of knowledge and expertise.
► social· The argument proceeded from the social sphere to the aesthetic sphere.· In the social sphere the changes are as great.· This is the beginning of an explanatory mechanism which elucidates the relationship between social and aesthetic spheres.· Similar questions were being asked in the social sphere, notably with regard to health and to the role of women in society.
► wide· But Eva was making her mark in much wider spheres.· They also want the chance to use their minds and energies in a wider sphere than just the home.· The greater our adaptability the wider our sphere of influence.
WORD FAMILYnounsphereadjectivespherical
1a ball shape2a particular area of activity, work, knowledge etcin the ... sphere television’s increasing role in the political spherepublic/private sphere Women have often been excluded from positions of power in the public sphere.3somebody’s/something’s sphere of influence a person’s, country’s, organization’s etc sphere of influence is the area where they have power to change thingsCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2adjectivesthe public sphere (=public positions and activities)· Men still controlled the public sphere.the private sphere· After the war, women refused to return quietly to the private sphere.the political sphere· Unions became more active in the political sphere.the economic sphere· Will the reform programme be extended beyond the economic sphere?the domestic sphere· More women started to be trained for tasks outside the domestic sphere.the social sphere· The following chapter considers the influence of factors in the wider social sphere.