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prettygoodwordnadir (nay-DEER, NAY-der) - n., (astron.) the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer; (fig.) the lowest point.
That last can be physical, numerical, or notional. The astronomic meaning is the original: used in English since the late 1300s as Middle English nadir/nader/nadair, from Middle French nadir, point opposite the zenith, from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic naẓīr (as-samt), opposite (the zenith).
(Apparently I've never run this? Wild.)
---L.
That last can be physical, numerical, or notional. The astronomic meaning is the original: used in English since the late 1300s as Middle English nadir/nader/nadair, from Middle French nadir, point opposite the zenith, from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic naẓīr (as-samt), opposite (the zenith).
(Apparently I've never run this? Wild.)
---L.
