zenith
nounAU, UK /ˈzɛn.ɪθ/ · US /ˈzi.nɪθ/
Etymology From Middle English cenyth, from Medieval Latin cenit, from Arabic سَمْت (samt, “direction, path”), from the fuller form سَمْت اَلرَّأْس (samt ar-raʔs, “direction of the head”). The -ni- for -m- is sometimes thought to be due to a misreading of the three strokes, which is plausible, though it could be a mere phonetic approximation.
1
Astronomy, Natural sciences The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
- The 12 day wee had the wind high and large ſo that in two dayes ſaile we made the Sunne our Zenith or verticall point[…]1638, Sir Thomas Herbert, Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique:
- In this 10th m. appeared that prodigious Comett the tayl whereof was like the blade of a double edged sword, and reached almost from the horizon to the zenith.1671–1693: Rev. Thomas Jolly, private notebook; printed in: 1895, Henry Fishwick (editor), The Note Book of the Rev. Thomas Jolly: A.D. 1671–1693. Extracts from the Church Books of Altham and Wymondhouses, 1649–1725. And an Account of the Jolly Family of Standish, Gorton, and Altham, page 44
1 more example
- In the east a pillar of cloud reared from horizon to zenith, with a kind of arm outstretched like a threatening colossus.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 180:
2
Astronomy, Natural sciences The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
- […] in the middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith, the violence of the heat was too great to stir out […]1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
- As far to the west as Monica could see, her world was a sea of fog, […]. Above it arched a cerulean sky; as the sun climbed to the zenith, […], the fog gradually took on a bluish tinge.1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter II, in The Understanding Heart:
3
Broadly Highest point or state; peak.
- Winning the continental championship was the zenith of my career.
- I find my zenith doth depend upon / A most auspicious star.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
2 more examples
- It was during those civil troubles […] this aspiring family reached the zenith.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- "There for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith of glory and pleasure."1900, William Beckford, The History of the Caliph Vathek, page 173:
- Antonyms
- antizenith
- Derived terms
- zenithal, zenithally, zenithic, zenith sector, zenith telescope, zenithward