nadir en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈneɪˌdɪə(ɹ)/ (UK)
- /neɪˈdɪɚ/ (US)
- /ˈneɪˌdɪɚ/ (US)
- /ˈneɪ.dɚ/ (US)
- /neɪˈdɪə(ɹ)/ (UK)
- /ˈnæd.ɪə(ɹ)/ (UK)
- /ˈneɪ.də(ɹ)/ (UK)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic نَظِير السَّمْت (naẓīr as-samt), composed of نَظِير (naẓīr, “counterpart, corresponding to”) and السَّمْت (as-samt, “the zenith”).
Meanings
-
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 […]
1638, Sir Thomas Herbert, Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique:
-
(figuratively) The lowest point; time of greatest depression.
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.
1950, Elizabeth Janeway, edited by Helen Hull, The Writer’s Book:The myth describes the dangerous moment of the nadir, the dead of winter, the moment when it is not known whether the world will be re-created and another cycle will bring on another spring.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 175:Near-synonym: dead
[…] the seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe […]
1837, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries:Trust had reached a nadir.
2025 November 15, Cameron Pugh, “To a T: How Phillip Eng got Boston’s subway system back on track”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
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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.
- (archaic) An empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| nadirs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
height · duplet · peak · super · zenith
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
antizenith · dead · trough · lowest ebb · down · bathos · low point · slough of despond
Translations (45)
ja どん底 (figuratively the lowest point) · hi नाजिर (axis of projected conical shadow) · tr ayak ucu (figuratively the lowest point) · ru нади́р (point of the sky) · is ilpunktur (figuratively the lowest point) · ga nadair (point of the sky) · hy նադիր (point of the sky) · hu talppont (point of the sky) · el ναδίρ (figuratively the lowest point) · ca nadir (point of the sky) · pl nadir (point of the sky) · fi aallonpohja (figuratively the lowest point) · fr nadir (point of the sky) · cmn 低谷 (figuratively the lowest point) · hu mélypont (figuratively the lowest point) · de Nadir (point of the sky) · fi nadiiri (point of the sky) · pt nadir (figuratively the lowest point) · it nadir (point of the sky) · da nadir (point of the sky) · ru ни́зший у́ровень (figuratively the lowest point) · es nadir (point of the sky) · hi नाजिर (figuratively the lowest point) · cmn 天底 (point of the sky) · hi नाजिर (point of the sky) · hu nadír (point of the sky) · nl nadir (point of the sky) · ar نَظِير (figuratively the lowest point) · ms nadir (point of the sky) · ar نَظِير (point of the sky) · gl nadir (point of the sky) · bg най-ниска точка (figuratively the lowest point) · fa پاسو (point of the sky) · pt nadir (point of the sky) · sv lågvattenmärke (figuratively the lowest point) · bg надир (point of the sky) · ar نَظِير (axis of projected conical shadow) · tl idalum (point of the sky) · fa سمتالقدم (point of the sky) · el ναδίρ (point of the sky) · ja 天底 (point of the sky) · fa قعر (figuratively the lowest point) · fa نظیرالسمت (point of the sky) · fr fond (figuratively the lowest point) · ro nadir (point of the sky)