great circle
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.53 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A circle defined as the intersection of the surface of a sphere and a plane which passes through the centre of the sphere.
noun
A segment of such circle representing the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere.
Example Sentences
- "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, [....]"
- "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'."
- "Because the Earth's surface is curved, the shortest distance is actually a curve over the surface called a great circle."