globular, a.
(ˈglɒbjʊlə(r))
[a. L. type *globulāris, f. globulus globule; cf. F. globulaire.
Although etymologically related to globule, the word is commonly employed in senses corresponding to those of globe, in place of globose; for other examples of the same phenomenon see -ular.]
1. a. Having the form of a globe: spherical, round.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Globular, Round, like a Globe. Bac[on]. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §18 Globular particles. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 8 Her eye is large and globular. 1691–1701 Norris Ideal World i. ii. 51 At the presence of a globular body I have naturally excited in me the idea of a perfect globe or sphere. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1239 In this station two globular hills appeared near its N.E. part. 1800 Vince Hydrostat. x. (1806) 97 It is better to make the bulb flat than globular. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. ix. (1878) 140 From the centre of the ceiling..hung a globular lamp. 1868 E. P. Wright Ocean World i. 15 Minute globular creatures, called Noctilucæ. |
b. Of protein: having a relatively compact molecular structure showing considerable folding.
| 1935 Biochem. Jrnl. XXIX. 2353 Edestin is thus a typical ‘globular’ protein. 1954, 1968 [see fibrous a. 1 d]. 1970 R. W. McGilvery Biochem. ii. 9 Hemoglobin is a representative of the globular proteins—those with a compact structure that are usually quite soluble in the water phase of tissues. |
2. Composed of globules.
| 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. i. §5 (1734) 118 The Blood..separates into two Parts, one of a more glutinous and solid Texture, call'd the Globular. 1830 Knox Anat. 61 There is at first no determinate texture in the organs; there are not even globules at the commencement. At a later period, the entire mass of the body appears globular or granulated. 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., Globular dentine, a layer of dentine, presenting rounded masses, lying immediately beneath the enamel. |
3. globular projection, that method of map-making in which the sphere is represented as it would appear if viewed from a distance
= half the chord of 90°.
globular chart, a chart on this projection.
globular sailing (see
quot. 1838).
globular cluster, a spherical cluster (see
cluster n. 3 c) of stars; also
ellipt. globular.
globular lightning = fire-ball 1.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Globular chart..Globular sailing. 1756 R. Rolt Dict. Trade & Com. s.v. Chart, Globular Chart, is a projection so called, from the conformity it bears to the globe itself. |
| 1859, 1928 Globular cluster [see cluster n. 3 c]. 1959 Listener 2 July 14/2 Altogether, about 100 globulars are known. 1961 Ibid. 7 Dec. 973/1 Globular clusters are of particular importance in modern astronomy, since studies of them have provided a great deal of information about the shape and structure of the Galaxy. Ibid., From Britain only the great globular in Hercules—Messier 13—is distinctly visible to the naked eye. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 259/1 Globular lightning, an electrical phenomenon whose nature is not understood: an appearance resembling a globe of fire, sometimes visible for a number of seconds, is produced. 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 739 A Junkers Ju. 86..was struck by globular lightning. |
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 263/2 Globular projection. |
| 1727–41 Globular sailing [see globular chart above.] 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 263/2, Globular sailing, a term of navigation, employed to denote the sailing from one place to another over an arc of a great circle, or the shortest distance between the two places. |
Hence
globuˈlarity,
ˈglobularness, the property of being globular;
ˈglobularly adv.| 1727 Bailey vol. II, Globularness, the same as Globoseness. 1809 Pearson in Phil. Trans. XCIX. 344 The globularity of expectorated matter. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 68 It is the same force (cohesion), which..gives globularity to fluids. 1826–34 Good's Bk. Nat. (ed. 3) II. 73 The globularity of the head, and the flatness or sharpness of the face. 1856 Rogue's Life ii. in Househ. Words 8 Mar. XIII. 181/1 When a man has no perceptible eyelids and when his eyes globularly project so far out of his head, that [etc.]. |