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hemisphere

A hemisphere is half of a sphere. If it’s a cold winter in the northern hemisphere, take a winter getaway to sunbathe somewhere in the southern hemisphere.

Hemisphere comes from the Greek, and combines the prefix hemi-, for "half," with sphere, or "perfectly round ball." We talk about the earth as divided at the equator into the northern and southern hemispheres (or divided at the prime meridian into eastern and western hemispheres). In biology, there are two cerebral, or brain, hemispheres — also known as the right and left sides of the brain.

DEFINITIONS OF: hemisphere

1

n half of a sphere

Type of:
subfigure
a figure that is a part of another figure

n half of the terrestrial globe

Examples:
northern hemisphere
the hemisphere that is to the north of the equator
southern hemisphere
the hemisphere to the south of the equator
Types:
eastern hemisphere, orient
the hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia
New World, occident, western hemisphere
the hemisphere that includes North America and South America
Type of:
geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region
a demarcated area of the Earth

n either half of the cerebrum

Synonyms:
cerebral hemisphere
Types:
left brain, left hemisphere
the cerebral hemisphere to the left of the corpus callosum that controls the right half of the body
right brain, right hemisphere
the cerebral hemisphere to the right of the corpus callosum that controls the left half of the body
Type of:
neural structure
a structure that is part of the nervous system
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