meridian

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• Received-Pronunciation: /məˈɹɪ.dɪ.ən/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /mɪ-/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /məˈɹɪ.di.ən/
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• rhymes with -ɪdiən
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• CMU ARPABET: M ER0 IH1 D IY0 AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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PIE word *médhyos From Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“relating to midday or noon; southern; (astronomy) relating to the celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Middle French meridien, Old French meridiane (“relating to midday; southern”) (whence Anglo-Norman meridien; modern French méridien), and from their etymon Latin merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”), from merīdiēs (“midday, noon; the south (due to the southward orientation of the sun at noon in the Northern Hemisphere)”) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Merīdiēs is a dissimilated form of Old Latin medīdiēs (with the -d- sound shifted to -r-), from medius (“middle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *médhyos (“middle”)) + diēs (“day”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“heaven, sky; to be bright”)).

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 Latin -nus 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.

Borrowed from French méridien or German Meridian (“pathway on the body along which life force is thought to flow”), from Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”) (see further at etymology 2); the French and German words are calques of Mandarin 經 /经, 经 (jīng, “pathway on the body along which life force is thought to flow; longitude; warp of woven fabric; to go or pass through”).

80 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Portuguese: meio-dia — relating to midday or noon
• Esperanto: meridiano — great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular point on the Earth’s surface
• Finnish: meridiaani — great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular point on the Earth’s surface
• Romanian: meridian — great circle passing through the poles of the celestial sphere and the zenith for a particular point on the Earth’s surface
• Arabic: خَطّ الطُّول (ḵaṭṭ aṭ-ṭūl) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Armenian: միջօրեական (miǰōreakan) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Azerbaijani: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Basque: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Belarusian: мерыдыя́н (mjerydyján) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Bulgarian: меридиа́н (meridián) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Catalan: meridià — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Chinese Mandarin: 經綫 /经线 (jīngxiàn) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Czech: poledník — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Danish: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Dutch: meridiaan — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Esperanto: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Estonian: meridiaan — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Finnish: pituuspiiri — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Finnish: meridiaani — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• French: méridien — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Galician: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Georgian: მერიდიანი (meridiani) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• German: Meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Greek: μεσημβρινός (mesimvrinós) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Ancient Greek: μεσημβρινός (mesēmbrinós) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Hebrew: מרידיאן (meridian) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Hindi: यामोत्तर (yāmottar) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Hungarian: hosszúsági kör — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Hungarian: délkör — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Irish: fadlíne — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Italian: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Japanese: 経線 (keisen) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Japanese: 子午線 (shigosen) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Korean: 경선 (gyeongseon) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Korean: 자오선 (jaoseon) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Latin: meridianus — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Latvian: meridiāns — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Lithuanian: dienovidinis — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Macedonian: меридијан (meridijan) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Norwegian Bokmål: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Norwegian Nynorsk: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Persian: نصفالنهار (nesf-ol-nahâr) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Persian: نیمروزان (nimruzân) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Polish: południk — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Portuguese: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Romanian: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Russian: меридиа́н (meridián) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Scottish Gaelic: domhan-loidhne — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Serbo-Croatian: меридијан — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Serbo-Croatian: meridijan — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Slovak: poludník — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Slovene: poldnevnik — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Spanish: meridiano — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Swedish: meridian — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Turkish: meridyen — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Ukrainian: півде́нник (pivdénnyk) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Ukrainian: меридіа́н (merydián) — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Vietnamese: kinh tuyến — great circle on the Earth’s surface, passing through the geographic poles
• Esperanto: meridiano — half of such a circle extending from pole to pole
• Finnish: pituuspiiri — half of such a circle extending from pole to pole
• Finnish: meridiaani — half of such a circle extending from pole to pole
• Bulgarian: зенит (zenit) — highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something — see also culmination, peak, zenith
• Finnish: korkein aste — highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something — see also culmination, peak, zenith
• Greek: απώγειο (apógeio) — highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something — see also culmination, peak, zenith
• Greek: μεσουράνημα (mesouránima) — highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something — see also culmination, peak, zenith
• Esperanto: meridiano — line passing through the poles of any sphere; notional line on the surface of a curved or round body
• Finnish: meridiaani — line passing through the poles of any sphere; notional line on the surface of a curved or round body
• French: trimégiste — 44-point type
• German: Sabon — 44-point type
• Chinese Mandarin: 經絡 /经络 (jīngluò) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Esperanto: meridiano — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Finnish: meridiaani — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Finnish: kanava — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Japanese: 経絡 (keiraku) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Japanese: 経絡系 (keirakukei) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Korean: 경락 (gyeongnak) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Persian: مریدین (meridiyan) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Portuguese: meridiano — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Russian: меридиа́н (meridián) — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow
• Vietnamese: kinh lạc — any of the pathways on the body along which life force is thought to flow