great circle

great circle

English

A great circle divides the sphere in two equal hemispheres

Noun

great circle (plural great circles)

1. (geometry) A circle defined as the intersection of the surface of a sphere and a plane which passes through the centre of the sphere.
2. A segment of such circle representing the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere.
   • 1902, S. L. Penfield, "Use of the Stereographic Projection for Geographical Maps and Sailing Charts", in American Journal of Science

     Wherever a navigator may be, it certainly would be to his advantage to be able to find the great circle, or shortest course, and the distance, to his port of destination, [....]

   • 2003, Jeff Toghill, The Navigator's Handbook: Essential Methods and Equipment--and how to Use Them

     The shortest distance between two points on an ocean Mercator chart is not a straight line - it is a curve known as a 'great circle'.

   • 2005, Phil Medina, Homework Helpers: Earth Science, page 52:

     Because the Earth's surface is curved, the shortest distance is actually a curve over the surface called a great circle.

Related terms

• great circle route

Translations

circle

Chinese: Mandarin: 大圆 (zh) Esperanto: ĉefcirklo Finnish: isoympyrä (fi) French: grand cercle (fr) m German: Großkreis (de) m Hungarian: főkör Irish: mórchiorcal m

Japanese: 大円 (ja) (daien), 大圏 (taiken) (on Earth) Latin: circulus maior m Luxembourgish: Grousskrees m Norwegian: Bokmål: storsirkel m Nynorsk: storsirkel m Swedish: storcirkel c

shortest distance

Esperanto: (please verify) ĉefcirklo Finnish: isoympyräreitti Norwegian: Bokmål: storsirkel m Nynorsk: storsirkel m

See also

• great circle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• small circle