Zenith

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Zenith \Ze"nith\ (?; 277), n. [OE. senyth, OF. cenith, F.
     z['e]nith, Sp. zenit, cenit, abbrev. fr. Ar. samt-urras way
     of the head, vertical place; samt way, path + al the + ras
     head. Cf. {Azimuth}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. That point in the visible celestial hemisphere which is


        vertical to the spectator; the point of the heavens
        directly overhead; -- opposed to {nadir}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              From morn
              To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
              A summer's day; and with the setting sun
              Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. hence, figuratively, the point of culmination; the
        greatest height; the height of success or prosperity.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I find my zenith doth depend upon
              A most auspicious star.               --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,
              And wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars. --Mrs.
                                                    Barbauld.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It was during those civil troubles . . . this
              aspiring family reached the zenith.   --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Zenith distance}. (Astron.) See under {Distance}.
  
     {Zenith sector}. (Astron.) See {Sector}, 3.
  
     {Zenith telescope} (Geodesy), a telescope specially designed
        for determining the latitude by means of any two stars
        which pass the meridian about the same time, and at nearly
        equal distances from the zenith, but on opposite sides of
        it. It turns both on a vertical and a horizontal axis, is
        provided with a graduated vertical semicircle, and a level
        for setting it to a given zenith distance, and with a
        micrometer for measuring the difference of the zenith
        distances of the two stars.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  zenith
       n : the point above the observer that is directly opposite the
           nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial
           bodies appear to be projected [ant: {nadir}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  102 Moby Thesaurus words for "zenith":
     Olympian heights, acme, aerial heights, apex, apogee, authority,
     authorization, be-all and end-all, blue ribbon, brow, cap,
     capstone, championship, climax, cloud nine, command, control,
     crest, crown, culmen, culmination, directorship, dizzy heights,
     dominion, edge, effectiveness, elevation, eminence, ether,
     extreme limit, extremity, first place, first prize, headship,
     heaven, heavens, hegemony, height, heights, high noon, high point,
     highest, highest pitch, highest point, imperium, influence,
     jurisdiction, kingship, leadership, lift, limit, lordship,
     management, mastership, mastery, maximum, meridian, most,
     mountaintop, ne plus ultra, new high, no place higher, noon, palms,
     paramountcy, peak, pinnacle, pitch, point, pole, power, presidency,
     primacy, raise, record, ridge, rise, rising ground, rule, say,
     seventh heaven, sky, sovereignty, spire, steep, stratosphere,
     summit, supremacy, sway, tip, tip-top, top, top spot, upmost,
     upper extremity, uppermost, uprise, utmost, vantage ground,
     vantage point, vertex, very top
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  ZENITH, n.  The point in the heavens directly overhead to a man
  standing or a growing cabbage.  A man in bed or a cabbage in the pot
  is not considered as having a zenith, though from this view of the
  matter there was once a considerably dissent among the learned, some
  holding that the posture of the body was immaterial.  These were
  called Horizontalists, their opponents, Verticalists.  The
  Horizontalist heresy was finally extinguished by Xanobus, the
  philosopher-king of Abara, a zealous Verticalist.  Entering an
  assembly of philosophers who were debating the matter, he cast a
  severed human head at the feet of his opponents and asked them to
  determine its zenith, explaining that its body was hanging by the
  heels outside.  Observing that it was the head of their leader, the
  Horizontalists hastened to profess themselves converted to whatever
  opinion the Crown might be pleased to hold, and Horizontalism took its
  place among _fides defuncti_.