meridian

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French, from Latin meridianus (“of or belonging to midday or to the south, southern”), from meridies (“midday, the south”), originally *medidies, from medius (“middle”) + diēs (“day”).

Noun

meridian (plural meridians)

1. (geography) An imaginary great circle on the Earth's surface, passing through the geographic poles.
2. Either half of such a great circle, all points of which have the same longitude.
3. (astronomy) A great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular observer.
4. (mathematics) A similar line on any general surface of revolution.
5. (alternative medicine, traditional Chinese medicine) Any of the pathways on the body along which the vital energy is thought to flow and, therefore, the acupoints are distributed.
6. The highest point, as of success, prosperity, etc.; culmination.
   • Shakespeare

     I have touched the highest point of all my greatness, / And from that full meridian of my glory / I haste now to my setting.

7. (printing, US, dated) The size of type between double great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.

Adjective

meridian (not comparable)

1. Meridional; relating to a meridian.
2. Relating to noon
3. Relating to the highest point or culmination.

   meridian splendour

Further reading

• meridian on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• meridian in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• meridian in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• meridian at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Meridian in the 1921 edition of Collier's Encyclopedia.