Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

meridian

/məˈɹɪ.di.ən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.38 in modern English

Syllables
me-ri-di-an
IPA
/məˈɹɪ.di.ən/
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

In full celestial meridian: a great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular point on the Earth's surface.

noun

In full terrestrial meridian: a great circle on the Earth's surface, passing through the geographic poles (the terrestrial North Pole and South Pole); also, half of such a circle extending from pole to pole, all points of which have the same longitude.

noun

The place on the celestial meridian where it is crossed by the sun or a star at its highest point.

noun

The place on the celestial meridian where it is crossed by the sun or a star at its highest point.

noun

The place on the celestial meridian where it is crossed by the sun or a star at its highest point.

noun

A ring or half-ring with markings in which an artificial globe is installed and may spin.

noun

A line passing through the poles of any sphere; a notional line on the surface of a curved or round body (in particular, an eyeball).

noun

The size of type between double great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.

American usage; Dated

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰe Proto-Indo-European *médʰi Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos Proto-Italic *meðios Latin medius Proto-Indo-European *dyew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws Proto-Italic *djous Latin diēs Latin medīdiēs Latin merīdiēs Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin merīdiānusder. Middle English meridian English meridian The noun is derived from Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“midday, noon; position of the sun at noon; the south; longitude of a place; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman meridien (“midday”), Middle French meridien (“midday; the south; terrestrial meridian; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) (modern French méridien), and Old French meridiane, meridiiene, and from their etymon Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”), a noun use of the neuter form of merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”); see further at etymology 1. Sense 1.1 (“celestial meridian”) is ultimately modelled after Latin merīdiāna līnea (“meridian line”). Sense 5.2 (“midday rest; siesta”) is modelled after Late Latin meridiana (“midday; midday rest”), probably short for Latin merīdiāna hōra (“midday time”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: meridian, meridien, meridiane, merīdiānum, *dyew-, merīdiānus

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /məˈɹɪ.di.ən/
  • British English: /məˈɹɪ.dɪ.ən/

Usage

Inflected Forms

meridians (plural) meridians (present, singular) meridianing (participle, present) meridianed (participle, past) meridianed (past)

Derived Forms

antimeridian circummeridian extrameridian hemimeridian meridianal meridianally semimeridian transmeridian meridianed postmeridian

Phrases

autonomous sensory meridian response Ferro meridian Greenwich meridian meridian fennel meridian termite prime meridian standard meridian Washington Meridian Time

Frequently Paired Words

méridienne meridienne meridional meridionally

Synonyms

noontide 12 o'clock 12 noon 12 p.m. high noon meridian meridiem midday nones noon noonday noontime

Rhymes With

gideon obsidian floridian davidian antemeridian euclidean quotidian lydian viridian enchiridion ophidian ascidian

Questions

How do you pronounce meridian?
The recorded pronunciation is /məˈɹɪ.di.ən/.
What does meridian mean?
In full celestial meridian: a great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular point on the Earth's surface.
Where does meridian come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce meridian

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “meridian”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/məˈɹɪ.di.ən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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