Meaning & use

meridian

noun·Advanced

An imaginary circle on the Earth's surface passing through the North and South Poles, used to measure longitude.

See it in a sentence

The Prime Meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England, marks zero degrees longitude.

Ships once used the position of the sun relative to the meridian to calculate their location.

A note on using this word

Meridian can also refer to the highest point reached by a person's career or life, as in "the meridian of his success," and to an energy pathway in traditional Chinese medicine.

Words with a similar meaning

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