prime meridian

[ prahymmuh-rid-ee-uhn ]

/ ˈpraɪm məˈrɪd i ən /

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See synonyms for prime meridian on Thesaurus.com

noun

the meridian running through Greenwich, England, from which longitude east and west is reckoned.

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Origin of prime meridian

First recorded in 1860–65

Words nearby prime meridian

prime field, prime focus, prime ideal, prime interest rate, primely, prime meridian, prime minister, prime mover, prime number, prime number theorem, prime of life

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prime meridian in a sentence

Domestically, the prime minister maintains the dubious line that he is the only man who can keep the still-fragile peace.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Hamish Marshall himself is a former staffer of Prime Minister Harper.
How Canadian Oilmen Pinkwash the Keystone Pipeline|Jay Michaelson|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Castro actually flew up to Montreal to be a pallbearer at the 2000 funeral of a beloved Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.
Canada ♥ Cuba Just Got Complicated|Shinan Govani|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A prime example: your “real name” policy, which unfairly targeted the LGBTQ community.
10 Things That Made Us Want to Turn Off the Internet Forever in 2014|The Daily Beast|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

When they were working together, 35 years ago, she was in her prime and one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But,” said the prime minister of Flatland, starting a difficulty, “who is to be greatest chief?
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The Minister pointed out to them the attendant difficulties, and referred them to the Prime Minister.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Even then the Prime Minister was with difficulty prevented from bowling during forbidden hours.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
Thimbletoes doesn't fancy that, you know, because the Prime Minister has all the honey he wants, by way of a salary.
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
Spencer Perceval, prime minister of Great Britain, shot in the lobby of the house of commons.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

British Dictionary definitions for prime meridian

prime meridian

noun

the 0° meridian from which the other meridians or lines of longitude are calculated, usually taken to pass through Greenwich

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

Scientific definitions for prime meridian

prime meridian

[ prīm ]

The meridian with a longitude of 0°, adopted officially in 1884 as a reference line from which longitude east and west are measured and as a basis for standardized time zones. It passes through Greenwich, England, the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which was founded in 1675 and which closed except as a museum in 1998. The prime meridian, together with its opposite meridian having a longitude of 180°, divide the Earth roughly into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, with those portions of the British Isles, Europe, and Africa that lie west of the prime meridian, considered for practical purposes as belonging to the Eastern Hemisphere.

Cultural definitions for prime meridian

prime meridian

The meridian at zero degrees longitude. All longitude is measured relative to the prime meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England.