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Glite Dictionary
spherical polygon

spherical polygon

9.8
A shape on the surface of a ball made by curved lines from large circles
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : polígono esférico
  • A spherical polygon can be formed by connecting points on a sphere with great circle arcs.

So I have N of these spherical polygons for PN of them in P prime.

Examples

  • The mathematician demonstrated how to calculate the area of a spherical polygon on a standard globe.

  • In geometry, a spherical polygon is defined as a shape created by the intersection of several great circles.

  • So I have N of these spherical polygons for PN of them in P prime.

    MIT OpenCourseWare

Surface Forms

spherical polygon singular
spherical polygons plural

Morphology

spherical + polygon

The meaning is directly compositional: 'spherical' (having the form of a sphere) modifies 'polygon' (a many-sided shape), so a learner can infer a polygon on a sphere’s surface. This adjective+noun construction and the same logic exist in many languages (e.g., Spanish 'polígono esférico'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand the MWE.

Etymology

The term spherical polygon combines spherical, from the word 'sphere' meaning a globe, and polygon, a shape with many sides. Imagine drawing that many-sided shape on a ball: each side becomes a curve along the biggest circles on the globe, like the equator, so the name means a shape 'on the surface of a sphere' made by those curved sides.