Meridian

[muh-rid-ee-uh n] /məˈrɪd i ən/

noun
1.
Geography.

2.
Astronomy. the great circle of the celestial sphere that passes through its poles and the observer’s zenith.
3.
a point or period of highest development, greatest prosperity, or the like.
4.
(in acupuncture) any of the pathways in the body along which vital energy flows.
adjective
5.
of or relating to a meridian.
6.
of or relating to midday or noon:
the meridian hour.
7.
of or indicating a period of greatest prosperity, splendor, success, etc.
[muh-rid-ee-uh n] /məˈrɪd i ən/
noun
1.
a city in E Mississippi.
/məˈrɪdɪən/
noun
1.

2.
(astronomy)

3.
(maths) Also called meridian section. a section of a surface of revolution, such as a paraboloid, that contains the axis of revolution
4.
the peak; zenith: the meridian of his achievements
5.
(in acupuncture, etc) any of the channels through which vital energy is believed to circulate round the body
6.
(obsolete) noon
adjective
7.
along or relating to a meridian
8.
of or happening at noon
9.
relating to the peak of something
n.

mid-14c., “noon,” from Old French meridien “of the noon time, midday; the Meridian; southerner” (12c.), and directly from Latin meridianus “of midday, of noon, southerly, to the south,” from meridies “noon, south,” from meridie “at noon,” altered by dissimilation from pre-Latin *medi die, locative of medius “mid-” (see medial (adj.)) + dies “day” (see diurnal). Cartographic sense first recorded late 14c. Figurative uses tend to suggest “point of highest development or fullest power.”

The city in Mississippi, U.S., was settled 1854 (as Sowashee Station) at a railway junction and given its current name in 1860, supposedly by people who thought meridian meant “junction” (they perhaps confused the word with median).

meridian me·rid·i·an (mə-rĭd’ē-ən)
n.

meridian
(mə-rĭd’ē-ən)

meridian [(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.)