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2021: Creating a Lexicon of Future
Z is for Zenith
The zenith is an imaginary point directly “above” a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. “Above” means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The zenith is the “highest” point on the celestial sphere.
The word “zenith” derives from an inaccurate reading of the Arabic expression سمت الرأس (samt al-ras), meaning “direction of the head” or “path above the head”, by Medieval Latin scribes in the Middle Ages (during the 14th century), possibly through Old Spanish. It was reduced to “samt” (“direction”) and miswritten as “senit”/”cenit”, the “m” being misread as “ni”. Through the Old French “cenith”, “zenith” first appeared in the 17th century. ~ Wikipedia, Zenith
