geodesic
/ˌd͡ʒiː.əˈdɛs.ɪk/
geodesic means of or relating to geodesy. It carries an Arena rating of 1536, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, geodesic ranks #3,249 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,694 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,117 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,140 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
geodesic is pronounced /ˌd͡ʒiː.əˈdɛs.ɪk/.
Why “geodesic” is a great word
The shortest possible path between two points on a curved surface. From French géodésique, from geodesy (the science of measuring the Earth) + -ic (forming adjectives), first attested in English in the early 19th century. Unlike "Euclidean" (which describes the straight-line geometry of flat planes) or "great circle" (which is a specific case on a perfect sphere), geodesic generalizes the principle of minimal distance to any terrain. It is the taut thread between mountain peaks, the precise arc a satellite traces across the heavens, and the course a bird instinctively follows over the bowed ocean—the universe's quiet insistence that even in a bent world, there is still a most direct way home.
Etymology
From French géodésique. By surface analysis, geodesy + -ic.
adj
- Of or relating to geodesy.
- Of or relating to a geodesic dome.
noun
- The shortest curve between two points on a specific surface.
- A segment of a great circle.
- A course allowing the parallel-transport of vectors along a course that causes tangent vectors to remain tangent vectors throughout that course (a straight curve, a line that is straight).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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