nadir
[ney-der, ney-deer]
- 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.
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Origin of nadir
1350–1400; Middle English ≪ Arabic naẓīr over against, opposite to (the zenith)
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for nadir
Contemporary Examples
The stock market has gone nuts, more than doubling since its March 2009 nadir.
Worse even than what I consider his nadir thus far, the 2011 debt-ceiling fiasco.
At its nadir, on September 4, 2012, Facebook closed below $18.
The debt debacle of 2011 was far and away the nadir of his first term.
However, the nadir of his married life was when Rather just barely remembered to call his wife on her birthday.
Historical Examples
They were written at the time when the Imperial spirit was at its nadir.
Lord Milner's Work in South AfricaW. Basil Worsfold
The nadir is the lowest point in the heavens and the zenith is the highest.
Keats: Poems Published in 1820John Keats
The sun does not spring at once from the nadir to the zenith.
It is also on record that Nadir Shah took guns as far as Saighan.
The Gates of IndiaThomas Holdich
Such were the counsels of the sage; and Nadir departed to begin life.
Popular TalesMadame Guizot
nadir
- the point on the celestial sphere directly below an observer and diametrically opposite the zenith
- the lowest or deepest point; depthsthe nadir of despair
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
nadir
[nā′dər]
- The point on the celestial sphere that is directly below the observer (90 degrees below the celestial horizon). Compare zenith.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.