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Zenith vs Summit - What's the difference?

zenith | summit |

Summit is a synonym of zenith.



As nouns the difference between zenith and summit

is that zenith is the point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir while summit is a peak; the top of a mountain.

As a verb summit is

to reach the summit of a mountain.

zenith

English

(wikipedia zenith)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (astronomy) The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
  • * 1638 Herbert, Sir Thomas Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique
    • The 12 day wee had the wind high and large ?o that in two dayes ?aile we made the Sunne our Zenith or verticall point...
  • * 1671–1693 : Rev. Thomas Jolly, private notebook ; printed in:
  • * 1895 , Henry Fishwick (editor), The Note Book of the Rev. Thomas Jolly: A.D. 1671–1693. Extracts from the Church Books of Altham and Wymondhouses, 1649–1725. And an Account of the Jolly Family of Standish, Gorton, and Altham , page 44
    • In this 10th m. appeared that prodigious Comett the tayl whereof was like the blade of a double edged sword, and reached almost from the horizon to the zenith .
  • (astronomy) The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
  • * 1719-
    • ...in the middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith , the violence of the heat was too great to stir out...
  • * 1920 , , The Understanding Heart , Chapter II:
    • As far to the west as Monica could see, her world was a sea of fog, , the fog gradually took on a bluish tinge.
  • Highest point or state; peak.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I find my zenith doth depend upon / A most auspicious star.
  • * Macaulay
    • It was during those civil troubles this aspiring family reached the zenith .
  • * {{quote-book
    • , page=173 , year=1900 , author=William Beckford , title=The History of the Caliph Vathek citation , passage="There for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith of glory and pleasure."}}

    Derived terms

    * zenithal * zenithally

    Synonyms

    * (highest point or state) acme, apogee, culmination, pinnacle * See also

    Antonyms

    * nadir * perigee

    Related terms

    * azimuth, nadir *: Both from or related to .

    summit

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A peak; the top of a mountain.
    • In summer, it is possible to hike to the summit of Mt. Shasta.
  • (countable) A gathering or assembly of leaders.
    • They met for an international summit on environmental issues.

    Usage notes

    Colloquially summit' is used for only the highest point of a mountain, while in mountaineering any point that is higher than surrounding points is a '''summit , such as the South Summit of (Mount Everest). These are distinguished by (topographic prominence) as ''subsummits'' (low prominence) or ''independent summits (high prominence).

    Synonyms

    * acme, apex, peak, zenith

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l)

    Verb

  • (transitive, hiking, climbing, colloquial) To reach the summit of a mountain.
  • * 2012 , Kenza Moller, "Eyes on the North," Canadian Geographic , vol. 132, no. 4 (July/Aug.) p. 10:
    • Of the range's 12 peaks, Mount Saskatchewan is the only one that has yet to be summited .

    Anagrams

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