zenith
/ˈzɛn.ɪθ/
Meaning
The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
Highest point or state; peak.
The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
Highest point or state; peak.
The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
Examples
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[…]
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.
In the east a pillar of cloud reared from horizon to zenith, with a kind of arm outstretched like a threatening colossus.
[…] in the middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith, the violence of the heat was too great to stir out […]
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.
Word Forms
zeniths
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.