Zenith vs. Nadir

Zenithnoun

(astronomy) The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.

Nadirnoun

The point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place of observation.

Zenithnoun

(astronomy) The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.

Nadirnoun

(figuratively) The lowest point; time of greatest depression.

Zenithnoun

(by extension) Highest point or state; peak.

Nadirnoun

(astronomy) The axis of a projected conical shadow; the direction of the force of gravity at a location; down.

‘The nadir of the sun is the axis of the shadow projected by the Earth.’;

Zenithnoun

That point in the visible celestial hemisphere which is vertical to the spectator; the point of the heavens directly overhead; - opposed to nadir.

‘From mornTo noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,A summer's day; and with the setting sunDropped from the zenith, like a falling star.’;

Nadirnoun

An empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.

Zenithnoun

hence, figuratively, the point of culmination; the greatest height; the height of success or prosperity.

‘I find my zenith doth depend uponA most auspicious star.’; ‘This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,And wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.’; ‘It was during those civil troubles . . . this aspiring family reached the zenith.’;

Nadirverb

To extend (a beehive) by adding an empty box at the base.

Zenithnoun

the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

Nadirnoun

That point of the heavens, or lower hemisphere, directly opposite the zenith; the inferior pole of the horizon; the point of the celestial sphere directly under the place where we stand.

Zenithnoun

the time at which something is most powerful or successful

‘in 1977, punk was at its zenith’;

Nadirnoun

The lowest point; the time of greatest depression.

‘The seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe.’;

Zenithnoun

the point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer.

Nadirnoun

an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything

Zenithnoun

the highest point reached by a given celestial object

‘the sun was well past the zenith’;

Nadirnoun

the point below the observer that is directly opposite the zenith on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

Zenith

The zenith is an imaginary point directly a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir).

‘above’; ‘Above’;

Nadir

The nadir (; also UK: ; Arabic: نظير‎, romanized: naẓīr, lit. 'counterpart') is the direction pointing directly below a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface there. Since the concept of being below is itself somewhat vague, scientists define the nadir in more rigorous terms.