请输入您要查询的英文单词:

 

单词 zenith
释义

zenith

/ˈzɛnɪθ /
noun
1The time at which something is most powerful or successful: in 1977, punk was at its zenith...
  • The conflict's roots date back to the zenith of the British raj.
  • You realize that this moment represents the zenith of your success.
  • They were also sceptical about the World Council of Churches, then at its zenith of influence, and they began to preach God's free grace from their pulpits.

Synonyms

highest point, high point, crowning point, height, top, acme, peak, pinnacle, apex, apogee, vertex, tip, crown, crest, summit, climax, culmination, maximum, optimum, prime, meridian, flower
informal high noon
2 Astronomy The point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer. The opposite of nadir.These objects reversed direction several times but maintained position in the sky more or less at the zenith....
  • The center of the map is the zenith, the point in the sky directly overhead.
  • The method needs data collected from two satellites, one close to zenith and the other in the direction of horizon.
2.1The highest point reached by a given celestial object: the sun was well past the zenith...
  • The whole affair was a very easygoing business; people kept eating and drinking, and, when the sun reached the zenith, they fell into a snooze where they sat.
  • The two-hour delay in starting that morning began to take on increasing significance as the sun reached its zenith without disclosing Petersburg on the horizon.
  • Once the sun reached its zenith, it was too hot to even move, let alone travel.

Derivatives

zenithal

/ˈzɛnɪθəl/ adjective

Origin

Late Middle English: from Old French or medieval Latin cenit, based on Arabic samt (ar-ra's) 'path (over the head)'.

  • Like its opposite, nadir (Late Middle English), zenith was originally an astronomical term deriving from Arabic, in this case from samt ar-ra's, ‘path over the head’. In astronomy the zenith is the point in the sky immediately above the observer, and also the highest point reached by a particular celestial object, when it is at its zenith. The modern general sense of this developed from the astronomical use in the early 17th century. The nadir is the point in the sky immediately below the observer, and comes from Arabic nazīr, meaning ‘opposite [to the zenith]’. Its general sense, ‘the lowest or most unsuccessful point’, also developed in the early 17th century.

Rhymes

随便看

 

英语词典包含243303条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间:2024/11/10 13:44:56