nadir

[ney-der, ney-deer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nadir ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Astronomy. the point on the celestial sphere directly beneath a given position or observer and diametrically opposite the zenith.

Astrology. the point of a horoscope opposite the midheaven: the cusp of the fourth house.

the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair.

RELATED WORDS

base, floor, bottom

Origin of nadir

1350–1400; Middle English ≪ Arabic naẓīr over against, opposite to (the zenith)

Related formsna·dir·al, adjective

Can be confusednadir zenith

Synonyms for nadir

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nadir ON THESAURUS.COM

3. bottom, floor, foot, depths.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nadir

Contemporary Examples of nadir

The stock market has gone nuts, more than doubling since its March 2009 nadir.
Why Didn't Obama Tout How Great the Economy Is Doing?
Daniel Gross
January 29, 2014
Worse even than what I consider his nadir thus far, the 2011 debt-ceiling fiasco.
Will Obama Learn the Right Lesson From the Summers Debacle?
Michael Tomasky
September 18, 2013
At its nadir, on September 4, 2012, Facebook closed below $18.
Facebook Stock Pushes Above $40
Sarah Langs
August 23, 2013
The debt debacle of 2011 was far and away the nadir of his first term.
Michael Tomasky on Obama’s Republican Revenge Over the Debt Limit
Michael Tomasky
December 1, 2012
However, the nadir of his married life was when Rather just barely remembered to call his wife on her birthday.
10 Revelations from ‘Rather Outspoken’ Autobiography
Ben Jacobs
April 28, 2012

Historical Examples of nadir

They were written at the time when the Imperial spirit was at its nadir.
Lord Milner's Work in South Africa
W. Basil Worsfold
The nadir is the lowest point in the heavens and the zenith is the highest.
Keats: Poems Published in 1820
John Keats
The sun does not spring at once from the nadir to the zenith.
Celebration in Baltimore of the Triumph of Liberty in France
William Wirt
It is also on record that Nadir Shah took guns as far as Saighan.
The Gates of India
Thomas Holdich
Such were the counsels of the sage; and Nadir departed to begin life.
Popular Tales
Madame Guizot

British Dictionary definitions for nadir

nadir

noun

the point on the celestial sphere directly below an observer and diametrically opposite the zenith

the lowest or deepest point; depthsthe nadir of despair

Word Origin for nadir

C14: from Old French, from Arabic nazīr as-samt, literally: opposite the zenith

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nadir

late 14c., in astronomical sense, from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic nazir "opposite to," in nazir as-samt, literally "opposite of the zenith," from nazir "opposite" + as-samt "zenith" (see zenith). Transferred sense of "lowest point (of anything)" is first recorded 1793.

Science definitions for nadir

nadir

[nā′dər]

The point on the celestial sphere that is directly below the observer (90 degrees below the celestial horizon). Compare zenith.