adjective
- Also ge·o·des·i·cal. pertaining to the geometry of curved surfaces, in which geodesic lines take the place of the straight lines of plane geometry.
noun
adjective
- Also: geodetic, geodesical relating to or involving the geometry of curved surfaces
noun
- Also called: geodesic line the shortest line between two points on a curved or plane surface
1821, from geodesy “surveying” + -ic. Alternative adjective form geodetic is from 1834; geodetical is from c.1600. Geodesic dome attested from 1953.
Noun
- A curve that locally minimizes the distance between two points on any mathematically defined space, such as a curved manifold. Equivalently, it is a path of minimal curvature. In noncurved three-dimensional space, the geodesic is a straight line. In General Relativity, the trajectory of a body with negligible mass on which only gravitational forces are acting (i.e. a free falling body) is a geodesic in (curved) 4-dimensional space-time.
Adjective
- Of or relating to the branch of geometry that deals with geodesics.