ze·nith

[zee-nith or, esp. British, zen-ith]
noun
1.
the point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer. Compare nadir.
2.
a highest point or state; culmination.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English cenith < Medieval Latin < Old Spanish zenit, scribal error for zemt < Arabic samt road, incorrectly read as senit by medieval scribes (compare Arabic samt ar-rās road above (over) one's head, the opposite of nadir)

Can be confused: nadir, zenith.

Synonyms
2. apex, summit.

Antonyms
1, 2. nadir.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
zenith (ˈzɛnɪθ, US ˈziːnɪθ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  astronomy the point on the celestial sphere vertically above an observer
2.  the highest point; peak; acme: the zenith of someone's achievements
 
[C17: from French cenith, from Medieval Latin, from Old Spanish zenit, based on Arabic samt, as in samt arrās path over one's head, from samt way, path + al the + rās head]
 
'zenithal
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

zenith
late 14c., from O.Fr. cenith (Fr. zénith), from M.L. cenit, senit, bungled scribal transliteration of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of samt ar-ras, lit. "the way over the head." Letter -m- misread as -ni-. The M.L. word may as well be influenced by the rough agreement of the Arabic term
with classical L. semita "sidetrack, side path" (notion of "thing going off to the side"), from se- "apart" + *mi-ta-, suffixed zero-grade form of PIE base *mei- "to change" (see mutable)
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
zenith   (zē'nĭth)  Pronunciation Key 
The point on the celestial sphere that is directly above the observer (90 degrees above the celestial horizon). Compare nadir.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

zenith

point on the celestial sphere directly above an observer on the Earth. The point 180 opposite the zenith, directly underfoot, is the nadir. Astronomical zenith is defined by gravity; i.e., by sighting up a plumb line. If the line were not deflected by such local irregularities in the Earth's mass as mountains, it would point to the geographic zenith. Because the Earth rotates and is not a perfect sphere, the geocentric zenith is slightly different from the geographic zenith except at the Equator and the poles. Geocentric zenith is the intersection with the celestial sphere of a straight line drawn through the observer's position from the geometric centre of the Earth

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Zenith drops out of computers to concentrate on the tube.
Our own sky can change color dramatically depending on the weather or whether
  you're looking near the horizon or the zenith.
The point on the sky at the zenith, straight up, is the axis of this rotation.
Nor does beauty reach its zenith under the age of thirty-five or forty.
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