/ˈneɪˌdɪə(ɹ)/, /ˈnæd.ɪə(ɹ)/, /ˈneɪ.də(ɹ)/
OriginFrom Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic نَظِير السَّمْت (naẓīr as-samt), composed of نَظِير (naẓīr, “counterpart, corresponding to”) and السَّمْت (as-samt, “the zenith”).
- The point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place of observation.
“[…] when we are Nadyr to the Sunne, we have no ſhadow […]”
- figurativelyThe lowest point; time of greatest depression.
“Near-synonym: dead”
“[…] the seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe […]”
“In this nadir of poetic repute, when the only verse that most people read from one year’s end to the next is what appears on greetings cards, it is well for us to stop and consider our poets.”
- The axis of a projected conical shadow; the direction of the force of gravity at a location; down.
“The nadir of the sun is the axis of the shadow projected by the Earth.”
- archaicAn empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.
- transitiveTo extend (a beehive) by adding an empty box at the base.
- A male given name.
- A surname.
Formsnadirs(plural) · nadirs(present, singular, third-person) · nadiring(participle, present) · nadired(participle, past) · nadired(past)