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  1. nadir love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Astronomy A point on the celestial sphere directly below the observer, diametrically opposite the zenith.
  2. n. The lowest point: the nadir of their fortunes.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. That point of the heavens which is vertically below any station upon the earth. It is diametrically opposite to the zenith, or point of the heavens vertically above the station. The zenith and the nadir are thus the two poles of the horizon, the nadir being the inferior pole.
  2. n. Hence The lowest point; the point of extreme depression.

Wiktionary

  1. n. 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.
  2. n. figuratively The lowest point; time of greatest depression.
  3. n. astronomy The axis of a projected conical shadow; the direction of the force of gravity at a location; down.
  4. n. beekeeping, archaic An empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.
  5. v. transitive, beekeeping To extend (a beehive) by adding an empty box at the base.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. 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.
  2. n. The lowest point; the time of greatest depression.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the point below the observer that is directly opposite the zenith on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected
  2. n. an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything

Etymologies

  1. From Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic نَظِيرُ السَّمْت (naẓīru as-samt), composed of السَمْتُ (as-samt, "the zenith") and نَظِير (naẓīr, "counterpart, corresponding to"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Medieval Latin, from Arabic naẓīr (as-samt), opposite (the zenith), from naẓara, to see, watch; see nṭr in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

Lists

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Comments

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  • chained_bear Exactly my thoughts on the matter. I am fairly sure this person is from another country (or at least grew up speaking a language other than English), so I do wonder what the name might mean in that country or language. Aug 3, 2009

  • bilby That marks a low point in supermarket employee names. Aug 3, 2009

  • chained_bear There's an employee at one of my local supermarkets whose name is Nadir. Seriously. Aug 3, 2009

  • skipvia Zenith Apogee would make a great name for a comic book character.

    *wondering if some celebrity has already used it for a new baby name* Aug 1, 2008

  • chained_bear I like the name Ralph Affliction. Aug 1, 2008

  • sionnach But Ralph Zenith has a certain ring to it. Aug 1, 2008

  • chained_bear It certainly does. Aug 1, 2008

  • reesetee Then again, that sounds better than Ralph Apex. Aug 1, 2008

  • skipvia Except for that unfortunate association with Ralph... Aug 1, 2008

  • emilytherese this word sounds too beautiful to be the lowest point...it is a much more gorgeous word than apex Aug 1, 2008

  • colleen If I was to make a list of words learnt from "Bloom County," this would be on top of it. Oct 12, 2007

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‘nadir’ has been looked up 5862 times, loved by 23 people, added to 195 lists, commented on 11 times, and has a Scrabble score of 6.