zenith

noun ze·nith \ ˈzē-nəth , Canadian also and British usually ˈze-nəth , -nith \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Editor's Note: Reaching the zenith

Definition of zenith

1 : the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the nadir and vertically above the observer — see azimuth illustration

2 : the highest point reached in the heavens by a celestial body

3 : culminating point : acme

at the zenith of his powers
—John Buchan

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Examples of zenith in a Sentence

at the zenith of her career as a dancer

Recent Examples of zenith from the Web

This weekend will be another story, with a very dangerous combination of heat, high humidity and abundant sunshine near its zenith, resulting in heat indexes well in excess of 100 degrees likely.

— tom skilling, chicagotribune.com, "One more day of sunny, low-humidity air," 13 June 2018
But when that zenith lies over North Korea, where the Kim clan is apotheosized as supernatural beings, leadership brings booming isolation.

— charlie campbell / beijing, Time, "All Signs Suggest North Korea's Kim Jong Un Really Wants to Make a Deal," 8 June 2018
The Spec-Tater represents man’s zenith in this regard, and maybe also his nadir.

— jon tayler, SI.com, "Feast Mode: Some of the Best (And Craziest) Ballpark Food for the 2018 MLB Season," 5 Apr. 2018
Notably, 25 of the 28 titles achieved the feat between 1993 and 2000, arguably during the R&B genre’s zenith in widespread popularity.

— trevor anderson, Billboard, "Drake's 'God's Plan' Ties Record for Fastest Trip to Top 10 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Chart," 7 Feb. 2018
But at their zeniths the East India Company, US Steel and AT&T made ROES of only about 10%, and IBM managed about 20%.

— The Economist, "History’s biggest firms," 5 July 2018
And just now may be the high tide, the zenith, of construction projects.

— carl nolte, SFChronicle.com, "Streets of San Francisco are always being dug up," 30 June 2018
In terms of animation, Wall-E operates as a zenith in the same way that 2001 did, and suggests that what comes after its release should be a similar revolution in animation.

— richard newby, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Wall-E' References That Need to Be Revisited," 27 June 2018
The celebration reached its zenith as the fifth graders came through, with parents, staff and younger students in the hall and at the front entrance, cheering, blowing noisemakers and shaking the pom-poms.

— david anderson, The Aegis, "Jarrettsville Elementary community members 'clap out' fifth graders on their last day of school," 15 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'zenith.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Reaching the zenith

When you reach the zenith, you're at the top, the pinnacle, the summit, the peak. Zenith developed from Arabic terms meaning "the way over one's head," and then traveled through Old Spanish, Medieval Latin, and Middle French before arriving in English. As long ago as the 1300s, English speakers used zenith to name the highest point in the celestial heavens, directly overhead. By the 1600s, zenith was being used for other high points as well. The celestial term is often contrasted with nadir, or the point that is vertically downward from the observer (imagine a line going through the earth from the observer's feet and out the other side into the sky). Figuratively, nadir simply means "the lowest point."

Origin and Etymology of zenith

Middle English cenyth, senyth, from Middle French cenit, from Medieval Latin, from Old Spanish zenit, modification of Arabic samt (al-ra's) way (over one's head)

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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