nadir
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
See also Nadir
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Mediaeval Latin nadir, from Arabic نَظِيرُ السَّمْت (naẓīru as-samt), composed of السَمْتُ (as-samt), “‘the zenith’”) and نَظِير (naẓīr), “‘counterpart, corresponding to’”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
nadir (plural nadirs)
- The point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place where we stand.
- (figuratively) The lowest point; time of greatest depression.
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- "The seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe." — Henry Hallam.
- "In this nadir of poetic repute, when the only verse that most people read from one year’s end to the next is what appears on greetings cards, it is well for us to stop and consider our poets.... Poets are the leaven in the lump of civilization." Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913), U.S. author, critic. The Writer’s Book, ch. 30, ed. Helen Hull (1950).
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- (astronomy) The axis of a projected conical shadow (e.g. the nadir of the sun is the axis of the conical shadow projected by the Earth)
- (beekeeping, archaic) an empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.
[edit] Synonyms
- (lowest point): lowest ebb, slough of despond, trough
[edit] Antonyms
- (point of heavens opposite the zenith): zenith
- (lowest point): height, peak
- (beekeeping): duplet, super
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
point of the sky
figuratively the lowest point
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axis of projected conical shadow
[edit] French
[edit] Etymology
As for the English word.
[edit] Noun
nadir m. (plural nadirs)
- (astronomy) nadir
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Italian
[edit] Etymology
As for the English word.
[edit] Pronunciation
nadìr, /naˈdir/, /na"dir/
[edit] Noun
nadir m.
- (astronomy) nadir
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Turkish
[edit] Etymology
- From Arabic.
[edit] Adjective
nadir (comparative daha nadir, superlative en nadir)
