geodesic dome
2
7.8
- noun
- /ˌdʒiːəˈdɛsɪk doʊm/
- Specialized
:
cúpula geodésica
- During the festival, guests gathered beneath a large geodesic dome to enjoy performances and art displays.
- geodesic dome by Buckminster
- Fuller’s geodesic domes
- build a geodesic dome
Examples
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The geodesic dome seen in the background is part of the science facilities operated by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Academic text (2000) -
A geodesic dome, white and space-age, is being erected on the lawn.
Fiction book (1996) -
The Love Tape section of the Exploratorium was at the back of the enormous geodesic dome.
Fiction book (1999) -
A translucent ruby-colored geodesic dome three meters in diameter sat in the middle of the floor.
Fiction book (1999) -
Known primarily as the inventor of the geodesic dome, Fuller was a proponent of using technology with a humanistic approach.
-
The flickering blue fire from a single oxygen-starved candle barely illuminated the interior of our geodesic dome shelter.
Fiction book (1996) -
Notice the geodesic dome of Wonders of Life, reflecting the surface designs of both the geodesic sphere of Spaceship Earth and the greenhouses of The Land.
Blog text (7) -
Jeff explained to me about yurts, geodesic domes, timber-framed cabins—ways of building houses for less than fifteen thousand dollars.
Fiction book (2001) -
The architect designed a stunning geodesic dome made of glass panels that allowed natural light to flood the interior.
-
The scientists constructed a durable geodesic dome in the Arctic to withstand extreme weather conditions.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'geodesic' specifies the geometric/structural principle and 'dome' names the rounded architectural form, so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a dome built according to geodesic geometry (shortest routes on a curved surface) that distributes stress. Although 'geodesic' is somewhat technical, the adjective+noun combination follows normal English composition and the overall sense is predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Geodesic dome comes from the word geodesic, meaning the shortest path on a round surface, and dome, a round roof. Imagine a ball made of many small triangles that share the weight so the building is light but very strong, so the term now means 'a round building made of many small panels'.