English
zenith
Pronunciation
  • (British, AU) IPA: /ˈzɛn.ɪθ/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈzi.nɪθ/
Noun

zenith (plural zeniths)

  1. (astronomy) The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
    Antonyms: nadir, perigee
    • 1638 Herbert, Sir Thomas Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique
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    • 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 ↗
      quote en
    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, p. 180,
      quote en
  2. (astronomy) The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
    • 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
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    • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter II:
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  3. (by extension) Highest point or state; peak.
    Synonyms: acme, apogee, culmination, pinnacle
    • 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
      I find my zenith doth depend upon / A most auspicious star.
    • 18, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 13, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify ), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323 ↗:
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