John Buchan
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Reaching the Zenith
When you reach the zenith, you're at the top, the pinnacle, the summit, the peak. Zenith developed from an Arabic phrase 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, which refers to 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."
Examples of zenith in a Sentence
W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 Mar. 2025
In President Donald Trump’s idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when top hats and shirtwaists were fashionable and typhoid fever often killed more soldiers than combat.
—Will Weissert, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2025
The cryptocurrency experienced some very impressive gains in the months leading up to this local zenith, after trading below $10.00 as recently as September, additional figures provided by Binance and reported by TradingView reveal.
—Charles Lloyd Bovaird Ii, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
The era of Peak TV, characterized by an abundance of high-end fiction content, has reached its zenith.
—Jamie Lang, Variety, 17 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Zenith.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zenith. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
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zenith
noun
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