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meridian

(Jerry Malone)

n.

1. 1. An imaginary great circle on the earth's surface passing through the North and South geographic poles. All points on the same meridian have the same longitude.
   2. Either half of such a great circle from pole to pole.
2. Astronomy. A great circle passing through the two poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith of a given observer.
3. Mathematics.
   1. A curve on a surface of revolution, formed by the intersection of the surface with a plane containing the axis of revolution.
   2. A plane section of a surface of revolution containing the axis of revolution.
4. Any of the longitudinal lines or pathways on the body along which the acupuncture points are distributed.
5. Archaic.
   1. The highest point in the sky reached by the sun or another celestial body; a zenith.
   2. Noon.
6. The highest point or stage of development; peak: “Men come to their meridian at various periods of their lives” (John Henry Newman).
7. Midwestern U.S. See median strip. See Regional Note at neutral ground.

adj.

1. Of or relating to a meridian; meridional.
2. Of or at midday: the meridian hour.
3. Of, relating to, or constituting the highest point, as of development or power: the empire in its meridian period.

[Middle English, from Old French, midday, from Latin merīdiānus, of midday, from merīdiēs, midday, from merīdiē, at midday, alteration of earlier *medīdiē, from *mediei diē : *mediei, dative (locative) of medius, middle + diē, dative of diēs, day.]

A line of longitude on Earth or in the sky, perpendicular to the Equator, and extending between the North and South poles.

A meridian of longitude on Earth marks a system of location and timekeeping whose zero was set at Greenwich, England, in the nineteenth century, when it was necessary to regularize time signals in the era of railway transportation. See also Latitude and longitude.

Meridians of celestial longitude are the extensions into space of meridians of longitude on Earth. Each celestial meridian is the half of a great circle that goes between the north and south celestial poles and crosses the celestial equator perpendicularly. The unique line known as the celestial meridian is the great circle going from north pole to south pole through a given observer's zenith, the point directly overhead. It thus marks the north-south line, and celestial objects going through it are said to be at their meridian transits or at their culminations. See also Astronomical coordinate systems.

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A longitudinal reference line that traverses the earth in a north-south direction; all meridians circle the earth through the equator and converge at the north and south poles; used by Surveyors in describing property under the Government Rectangular Survey Method.

noun

The highest point or state: acme, apex, apogee, climax, crest, crown, culmination, height, peak, pinnacle, summit, top, zenith. Informal payoff. Medicine fastigium. See high/low.

An imaginary circle along the world's surface from geographic pole to geographic pole; a line of longitude. Meridians are described by the angle they form west or east of the prime meridian, which has a value of 0° and runs through Greenwich, England. It will be noon at the same time throughout the length of each individual meridian.

Line running north–south, i.e. where the great circle passing through the poles reaches the earth's surface. Some meridians have been marked on church floors (e.g. Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, and Santa Maria degli Angeli, Rome), complete with signs of the zodiac and graduations.

Bibliography

• W.Papworth (1852)

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(muh-rid-ee-uhn)

A great imaginary circle on the surface of the Earth that runs north and south through the North Pole and South Pole. Longitude is measured on meridians: places on a meridian have the same longitude. (See prime meridian.)

1. an imaginary line on the surface of a globe or sphere, connecting the opposite ends of its axis.
2. in Western acupuncture includes the system of channels and their collaterals which are thought to connect all body parts and most acupuncture points are located on them. There are 12 bilaterally distributed meridians—lung meridian of the hand (Tai Yin), heart m. of the hand (Shao Yin), pericardium m. of the hand (Jue Yin), large intestine m. of the hand (Yang Ming), small intestine m. of the hand (Tai Yang), triple heater m. of the hand (Shao Yang), stomach m. of the foot (Yang Ming), urinary bladder m. of the foot (Tia Yang), gallbladder m. of the foot (Shao Yang), spleen m. of the foot (Tao Yin), kidney m. of the foot (Shao Yin), liver m. of the foot (Jue Yin).

• m. points — acupuncture points located on one of the meridians.
• m. theory — traditional Chinese medicine is based on the theory that all body parts are connected by a network of main and collateral channels along which are situated the bulk of the acupuncture points; there are also some meridians, the dorsally located Governing Vessel and the ventrally located Conception Vessel, which are not connected to specific anatomical organs.

IN BRIEF: The half circle made by a line passing north and south across the surface of the earth, from one pole to the other.

The West begins where the average annual rainfall drops below twenty inches. When you reach the line which marks that drop — for convenience, the one hundredth meridian — you have reached the West. — Bernard de Voto (1897-1955)

Tutor's tip: This word was used in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - meridian, længdecirkel, længdegrad
adj. - højeste (f.eks. midt på dagen)

idioms:

• ante meridian    a.m. (før middag)
• post meridian    p.m (efter middag)

Nederlands (Dutch)
meridiaan, een hoog punt, hoogtepunt (van zon/ster), hoog, middag-, betreffende het hoogtepunt

Français (French)
n. - (Géog, Astron, Math) méridien, (fig) apogée
adj. - méridien

idioms:

• ante meridian    antiméridien
• post meridian    post-méridien

Deutsch (German)
n. - Meridian
adj. - Mittags..., (Astr.) Meridian

idioms:

• ante meridian    vormittags
• post meridian    nachmittags

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (αστρον., γεωγρ.) μεσημβρινός, ζενίθ, κολοφώνας, (μτφ.) αποκορύφωμα, απόγειο, μεσουράνημα

idioms:

• ante meridian    προ μεσημβρίας
• post meridian    μετά μεσημβρίαν

Italiano (Italian)
meridiano

idioms:

• ante meridian    antemeridiano
• post meridian    pomeridiano

Português (Portuguese)
n. - meridiano (m), apogeu (m)

idioms:

• ante meridian    antemeridiano, horário compreendido entre 0h e 12h
• post meridian    pós-meridiano, horário compreendido entre 12h e 0h

Русский (Russian)
меридиан, зенит, полуденный, кульминационный

idioms:

• ante meridian    до полудня
• post meridian    после полудня

Español (Spanish)
n. - meridiano, cenit, apogeo
adj. - meridiano, supremo, culminante

idioms:

• ante meridian    A.M. - antes del mediodía
• post meridian    P.M. - después del mediodía

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - meridian, middagshöjd, kulmen

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
子午线, 顶点, 经线, 子午线的, 顶点的, 日中的

idioms:

• ante meridian    上午的
• post meridian    午后的, 午后发生的

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 子午線, 頂點, 經線
adj. - 子午線的, 頂點的, 日中的

idioms:

• ante meridian    上午的
• post meridian    午後的, 午後發生的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 자오선
adj. - 절정기의, 정오의, 자오선의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 子午線, 経線, 最高点, 絶頂, 全盛期
adj. - 子午線の, 正午の, 絶頂の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مسمت, خط الطول أو السمت‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מצהר, קו-אורך, מרידיאן, תקופת זוהר, זוהר‬
adj. - ‮של צהריים, של תקופת זוהר‬

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Meridian Color	magellan meridian
Meridian Gold	Magellan Meridian Platinum