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zenith

noun
/ˈzɛn.ɪθ/UK/ˈzi.nɪθ/US

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. derived from سَمْت
  2. derived from cenit
  3. inherited from cenyth

Definitions

  1. The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer

    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[…]
    • 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.

  2. 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 […]
    • 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.

  3. Highest point or state

    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.
    • It was during those civil troubles […] this aspiring family reached the zenith.

The neighborhood

Derived

zenithal, zenithally, zenithic, zenith sector, zenith telescope, zenithward

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at zenith. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01zenith02observer03adheres04adhere05stick06cylindrical07meridians08meridian

A definitional loop anchored at zenith. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at zenith

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA