geo-, ge- +

A plant with dormant parts located underground: The Moraea ciliata is a geocryptophyte that has perennating organs (surviving from year to year) and has renewal buds hidden or below the surface of the soil.

1. A rounded, more or less hollow concretion or separable nodule of rock lined with inward-projecting crystals which differ in composition from the enclosing rock or the crystal-lined cavity in such a hollowed rock: A geode is a nodule of stone, a roughly spherical rock mass containing a cavity, lined or filled with crystals lining the inside walls, that have grown unimpeded and so are frequently perfectly formed.
2. Etymology: from French géode; from Latin geodes; from Greek geodes, "earthy, earth-like"; from ge-, "earth".

In microbiology, a genus of bacteria that retain the color of a gentian violet stain, aerobic bacteria, in the family Dermatophilaceae: The bacteria of the genus Geodermatophilus occurr in soil, with a tendency toward mycelial (mass of branched, tubular filaments of fungi) growth, the mass of fine branching tubes (known as hyphae) that forms the main growing structure of a fungus.

Visible structures like mushrooms are reproductive structures produced by the mycelium or the mass of fibers formed by certain bacteria.

1. Relating to the geometry of curved surfaces: On their tour of the city, Mrs. Green and her husband admired the geodesic glass dome which was inside a large art museum.
2. The shortest line between two points on a mathematically defined surface (as a straight line on a plane or an arc of a great circle on a sphere): Mr. Smart gave the students in his math class the assignment to find the geodesic path on the defined example surface in their textbook.
3. Etymology: "surveying", from Modern Latin geodaesia, from Greek geodaisia, "division of the earth" (from ge, "earth" + daiein, "divide").

A spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles (geodesics) positioned on the surface of a sphere: A geodesic dome is a strong prefabricated enclosure constructed of lightweight bars forming a grid of polygons, with no internal supports.

A geodesic dome is energy efficient because it requires less building material and has less surface area, because heat loss due to wind turbulence is decreased, and because its shape minimizes air leakage.

The line of shortest distance between any two points on a mathematically defined surface: Specifically, a geodesic line is a line on the surface of the Earth, a line of double curvature which usually lies between the two normal section lines determined by the two points.

Also known as the "geodesic dome", a dome or structure: A geodesic sphere roughly approximates a hemisphere constructed of many light, straight structural elements in tension, arranged in a framework of triangles to reduce stress and weight.

Someone who specializes in the size and shape of the Earth: Peter was so interested in the planet he lived on that he decided that he wanted to become a geodesist and be able to determine the exact positions of specific geographical points and the planet's curvature and its dimensions, but first he had to study geology at the university.

The size and shape of the Earth, the measurement of terrestrial gravitational forces, and the location of fixed points on the Earth's surface: Geodesy deals with the precise measurement of the size and shape of the Earth, the mapping of points on its surface, and the study of its gravitational field.

Geodesy is a subdivision of geophysics which includes the determination of the size and shape of the Earth, the Earth's gravitational field, and the location of points fixed to the Earth's crust in an Earth-referred coordinate system.

Geodesy is concerned with the determination of the geometry of the Earth's surface (both solid and liquid), including the time variability of this geometry.

Determination of the Earth's orientation is essential because a number of measurements of geometric quantities involve observations of extraterrestrial objects (artificial satellites, radio stars, etc.). These measurements can not be interpreted without knowledge of the Earth's orientation.

Relating to the geometry of curved surfaces: Geodetic theories, techniques, or results of geodesy utilize the precise measurement of the Earth's surface or of points on its rounded surface.

The branch of geodesy (study of the size and shape of the Earth): Geodetic astronomy utilizes astronomical observations to extract geodetic information (precise measurement of the Earth's surface or of points on its surface).

A system of horizontal or vertical control stations: Geodetic control structures have been established and adjusted by geodetic methods in which the shape and size of the Earth (or the geoid) have been considered in computing positions.

The latitude and longitude of a point on the Earth's surface: Geodetic coordinates are determined by the geodetic vertical (normal to the specified spheroid).

Geodetic coordinates indicate a location on Earth defined by its latitude, longitude and elevation.

Geodetic coordinates refer to the quantities of latitude and longitude which define the position of a point on the surface of the Earth with respect to the reference spheroid.

A global datum reference for expressing the exact position of places on Earth: The geodetic datum consists of five quantities: the latitude and longitude of an initial point, the azimuth of a line from this point, and two constants necessary to define the terrestrial spheroid.

Horizontal datum is used for describing a point on the Earth's surface, in latitude and longitude or another coordinate system. Vertical datum measures elevations or depths.

The science or technique of measuring gravitational acceleration: The worldwide use of geodetic gravimetry is important for determining the size and shape of the Earth.