Hem"i*sphere (?), n. [L. hemisphaerium, Gr. &?;; &?; half = &?; sphere: cf. F. hémisphère. See Hemi-, and Sphere.]
1. A half sphere; one half of a sphere or globe, when divided by a
plane passing through its center.
2. Half of the terrestrial globe, or a projection of the same in a map or picture.
3. The people who inhabit a
hemisphere.
He died . . . mourned by a hemisphere.
J. P. Peters. Cerebral hemispheres. (Anat.) See Brain. -- Magdeburg hemispheres (Physics), two
hemispherical cups forming, when placed together, a cavity from
which the air can be
withdrawn by an air pump; -- used to illustrate the pressure of the air. So called because invented by Otto von Guericke at Magdeburg.
Hear it pronounced