Zenith Meaning
/ˈzɛn.ɪθ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
nounThe highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
Sentence Examples
His fame was at its zenith at that time.
The sun is at the zenith.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His career reached its ____ when he won the very prestigious award.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company reached its ____ in several of the nineties, becoming the most successful player in the whole market today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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[…]"
— 1638, Sir Thomas Herbert, Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique:
"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."
— 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
"In the east a pillar of cloud reared from horizon to zenith, with a kind of arm outstretched like a threatening colossus."
— 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 180:
"[…] in the middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith, the violence of the heat was too great to stir out […]"
— 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
"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."
— 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter II, in The Understanding Heart:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His career reached its ____ when he won the very prestigious award.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company reached its ____ in several of the nineties, becoming the most successful player in the whole market today.