Zenith

Forms: 4–5 cinit, cenith, -yth, senith, -yth, 5 cenit, senit, 6 zenit, -ithe, -yth, ceneth, 6– zenith. [a. OF. cenit(h (F. zénith) or med. L. cenit (cf. It. zenit, Sp. cenit, Pg. zenith, G. zenith, etc.), obscurely ad. Arab. samt, in samt ar-rās ([Arabic]) lit. way or path over the head (samt way, al the, rās head); cf. AZIMUTH (al the, sumūt pl. of samt).]

  1.  The point of the sky directly overhead; the highest point of the celestial sphere as viewed from any particular place; the upper pole of the horizon (opp. to NADIR).

  † Sometimes, as in quots. 1555, 1638, used like a predicative adj. = in the zenith, ‘vertical’: cf. also quot. 1604.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 277. Cinit, þat is þe point þat is in þe welken euen aȝenst hem in þe oþer side of þe erþe.

c. 1391.  Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 18. The centre þat standith a-Middes the narwest cercle is cleped the senyth…. this forseide cenyth is ymagened to ben the verrey point ouer the crowne of thyn heued, & also this senyth is the verrey pool of the orisonte in euery regioun. Ibid., II. § 22. As fer is the heued of aries … from owre orisonte as is the cenyth fro the pole artik.

c. 1495.  The Epitaffe, etc., in Skelton’s Wks. (1843), II. 393. Creatures more maddyr In erthe none wandreth atwene senit and naddyr.

1549.  Compl. Scot., vi. 50. The point that is rycht abufe our hede is callit zenyth,… ande as oft as ve change fra place to place, as oft ve sal hef ane vthir zenytht.

1555.  Eden, Decades (Arb.), 251. The sonne beinge there Zenith (that is the poynt of heauen directly ouer theyr heades) they felte greater heate … then when they were vnder the Equinoctiall line.

1604.  E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, II. ix. 101. When I passed, which was when the sun was there for Zenith, being entered into Aries.

1638.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (ed. 2), 6. Shadowlesse, when Sol is Zenith.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 745. From Morn To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve…; and with the setting Sun Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star.

1733.  Berkeley, Th. Vision, § 60. As an object gradually ascends from the horizon towards the zenith.

1849.  H. W. Herbert, Frank Forester, I. 144. There was not a speck of cloud from east to west, from zenith to horizon.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. xi. 72. The stars … near the zenith shine with a steady light.

1885–94.  R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, Mar. xxiv. She saw the evening light In shifting colour to the zenith tower.

  † b.  The point of the horizon at which a heavenly body rises; the point of intersection of an azimuth-circle with the horizon; hence by extension = AZIMUTH 2. Obs.

c. 1391.  Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 19. Thise Azimutz seruen … for to knowe the cenyth of the sonne & of euery sterre. Ibid., II. § 33. To knowe the senyth of the Altitude of the sonne, &c. … Any tyme of the day tak the altitude of the sonne, & by the Azymut in which he stondith, Maistou sen in which partie of the firmament he is.

  † c.  transf. Course towards the zenith. Obs.

1667.  Milton, P. L., X. 329. Satan … Betwixt the Centaure and the Scorpion stearing His Zenith, while the Sun in Aries rose.

  d.  Magnetic zenith: the point of the sky directly above the magnetic pole of the earth.

1885.  trans. S. Tromholt, Aurora Borealis, x. I. 220–1. The Auroral Corona.—This form of the Aurora Borealis, which generally indicates, at all events in southern latitudes, the culmination of the aurora as regards splendour, colour, and development, is produced by the streamers shooting from every part of the sky towards a common point, viz., the magnetic zenith.

  2.  loosely. The expanse of sky overhead, the upper region of the sky; the highest or culminating point of a heavenly body.

[1592.  Sir J. Davies, Nosce Teipsum, L 2 b. If we beleeue, that men do liue Vnder the Zenith of both frozen Poles.]

1631.  Massinger, Believe as you List, I. ii. Two-and-twentye yeares of miserie … that longe time spent to Under distant zeniths.

1704.  Swift, Batt. Bks., T. Tub, etc. 271. The conscious Moon, now in her Zenith.

1791.  E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., I. 118.

1827–35.  N. P. Willis, Starlight, 9.

1864.  Tennyson, En. Arden, 587. Huge trees that branch’d And blossom’d in the zenith.

1898.  E. V. Lucas, Willow & Leather, 106.

  3.  fig. Highest point or state, culmination, climax, acme.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 181. I finde my Zenith doth depend vpon A most auspitious starre, whose influence If now I court not,… my fortones Will euer after droope.

1627.  Donne, Serm., Acts vii. 60 (1661), 214. Gods suffering for man was the Nadir the lowest point of Gods humiliation, mans suffering for God is the Zenith, the highest point of mans exaltation.

1643.  Sir T. Browne, Relig. Med., I. § 17. The hand of God, whereby all Estates arise to their Zenith and verticall points.

1728.  Morgan, Algiers, I. iv. 149. In S. Augustine’s Time, the Christian affairs seem to have been in their Zenith of Prosperity.

1820.  Byron, Mar. Fal., IV. i. I left the festival before It reach’d its zenith.

1837.  Macaulay, Ess., Bacon (1851), I. 377. Bacon had reached the zenith of his fortunes.

1884.  F. Harrison, Choice of Bks. (1886), 251. Built … in the zenith of the pointed style, [Westminster Abbey] is one of the most exquisite examples of its class.

  † b.  Med. (See quot.) Obs.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl. Zenith,… a word used by some medical writers to express the first appearance of the menses in young women.

  4.  attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. (quasi-adj.: cf. quots. 1555, 1638 in 1): Belonging to or situated in the zenith, directly overhead, as zenith sky, star, sun; also fig. (cf. 3) highest, supreme, culminating, as zenith happiness, hour. b. Astron., etc. In names of instruments used for determining the zenith distance (see c) of a heavenly body, as zenith sector, telescope, tube (see quots.). c. Other special combs.: zenith-borne a., borne to or towards the zenith; zenith distance, the angular distance of a heavenly body from the zenith (the complement of its altitude or angular distance from the horizon); † zenith line, used for a vertical line or arc extending from the zenith to the horizon (= AZIMUTH 1); so † zenith point, the point at which such a line meets the horizon (cf. sense 1 b); zenith sweep (SWEEP sb. 7), a series of observations of a region of the sky passing through the zenith.

1886.  M. F. Tupper, My Life as an Author, 365. Liberty!… Rise to thy height upon *zenith-borne wings!

1704.  J. Harris, Lex. Techn., *Zenith Distance, is the Complement of the Sun, or Stars Meridian Altitude, or what the Meridian Altitude wants of 90 Degrees.

1854.  Tomlinson, Arago’s Astron., 41. Zenith-distances and azimuths form … a system of angles, by means of which it is easy to fix the positions of the stars with extreme precision.

1869.  Dunkin, Midn. Sky, 156. The zenith-distance of Gamma Draconis is daily observed at Greenwich.

1875.  W. Cory, Lett. & Jrnls. (1897), 405. Ronan’s Well came our in Scott’s year of *zenith happiness.

1853.  Whittier, Rantoul, iii. Dead! in … That triumph of life’s *zenith hour!

1596.  Blagrave, Astrol. Uran., i. B j b. The 90. lower ends of the 90. *zenith lines, which before I called the 90. *zenith points.

1776.  Maskelyne, Astron. Observ., I. Pref. p. ix. The *zenith sector,… constructed by that excellent artist Mr. Graham,… was fixed up at Wanstead in the year 1727, for the use of that great astronomer Dr. Bradley; who, from his first year’s observations with it, discovered the apparent motion of the fixed stars, which he called the aberration of light.

1802.  A. Ellicott, Jrnl. (1803), 185. The pack-horsemen likewise brought on my small zenith sector.

1829.  W. Pearson, Pract. Astron., II. 531. The zenith sector … can be used only on the meridian; and its measures are referred to the zenith point of the place of observation. Its principal uses are to determine the latitude of the place of observation by a star of known zenith distance; to measure the zenith distance of a star…; and to ascertain the zenith point…. The first zenith sector was … constructed by the ingenious Dr. Hooke [c. 1700], with an intention of determining whether or not a fixed star has a measurable annual parallax.

1862.  F. T. Palgrave, Hymn, ‘Lord God of morning and of night,’ iii. The sun may stand in *zenith skies.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, VII. xx. When *zenith-stars were trembling on the wave.

1903.  Hardy, Dynasts, I. V. v. This Trafalgar Will … Pitt exalt As zenith-star of England’s firmament.

1826.  Carrington, Dartmoor, 3. Deep-hued flowers that light Their tints at *zenith suns.

1789.  Herschel, in Phil. Trans., LXXX. 10. My twenty-feet speculum was so much tarnished by *zenith sweeps, in which it had been … exposed to falling dews.

1834.  Pond, ibid., CXXIV. 209. The erection of a *zenith telescope of twenty-five feet focal length…, for the purpose of measuring the zenith distance of γ Draconis.

1836.  G. B. Airy, Autobiog. (1896), 123. The North Terrace was the official passage to the North-west Dome, where there was a miserable Equatoreal, and to the 25-foot *Zenith Tube. Ibid. (1847), 184. On Nov. 13^th I circulated an Address, proposing to discontinue the use of the Zenith Tube, because it had been found … that the Zenith Tube was not more accurate than the Mural Circle.

1869.  Dunkin, Midn. Sky, 15. The reflex zenith-tube.

  Hence Zenithal a., pertaining or relating to, situated or occurring at, the zenith; also fig. supreme, ‘culminating’; † Zenithfer, a part of an astrolabe used for measuring zenith distances; Zenithward(s) adv., towards the zenith.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. v. 39. The deep *zenithal blue.

1869.  Dunkin, Midn. Sky, 57. Beta and Gamma Draconis … were the two zenithal stars in June.

1891.  Hardy, Tess, xxv. A zenithal paradise, a nadiral hell.

1903.  Blackw. Mag., Nov., 651/1. They have known the zenithal instant of piscatorial life.

1596.  Blagrave, Astrol. Uran., i. B 1. This Astrolabe hath three generall partes, that is to say, the Celestiall, the *Zenitfer with his Cursor, and the Almicantifer with his Pointer. Ibid., B 1 b. As farre as the Zenithfer will giue leaue.

1881.  Traill, in Nature, 10 Feb., 351/1. The streamers … still ascending *zenithward.

1871.  A. Stewart, Nether Lochaber, xxii. (1883), 128. The meridian sun … is … climbing *zenithwards.