zenith

[ zee-nithor, especially British, zen-ith ]

noun

1. the point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer. Compare nadir.

   Antonyms: nadir

2. a highest point or state; culmination.

   Synonyms: summit, apex

   Antonyms: nadir

zenith

/ ˈziːnɪθ; ˈzɛnɪθ /

noun

1. astronomy the point on the celestial sphere vertically above an observer
2. the highest point; peak; acme

   the zenith of someone's achievements

zenith

/ zē′nĭth /

1. The point on the celestial sphere that is directly above the observer (90 degrees above the celestial horizon ).
2. Compare nadir

Derived Forms

• ˈzenithal, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of zenith¹

1350–1400; Middle English cenith < Medieval Latin < Old Spanish zenit, scribal error for zemt < Arabic samt road, incorrectly read as senit by medieval scribes (compare Arabic samt ar-rās road above (over) one's head, the opposite of nadir )

Word History and Origins

Origin of zenith¹

C17: from French cenith, from Medieval Latin, from Old Spanish zenit, based on Arabic samt, as in samt arrās path over one's head, from samt way, path + al the + rās head

Example Sentences

Last week I wrote about my affection for Knoke, so you can guess who I was rooting for as the hourlong episode reached its zenith.

From Outside Online

On the back of Kerry’s climate diplomacy, Obama and Xi feted each other a year later at a state dinner in Washington—perhaps the zenith of relations between the two countries in recent years.

From Time

Who was the most erotic poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque, when the quatrain reached its courtly zenith?

From The Daily Beast

This reached its zenith when he and Jon Stewart held their Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear in 2010.

From The Daily Beast

In his own mind he is at the zenith of his life, a man in full.

From The Daily Beast

The major labor unions - then at the zenith of their political power - disliked Johnson.

From The Daily Beast

In 1986, at the zenith of her strength, that figure was reduced to 1.9 million.

From The Daily Beast

The sky was alight from zenith to horizon, the Nile aflame with sunrise, by the time the letter was written.

From Project Gutenberg

The leathered Diapason, indeed, is now attaining a zenith of popularity both in England and America.

From Project Gutenberg

Coloured shafts mapped the vault from horizon to zenith like the spokes of a prodigious wheel of fire.

From Project Gutenberg

The sun, a ball of fiery brass, burned directly in the zenith, so that the shadow of the foliage lay like a carpet about her feet.

From Project Gutenberg

How did it fare with the poor all over Europe in the centuries when Christianity was at the zenith of its power?

From Project Gutenberg