zenith point, n.

zenith-point
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zenith-point_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zenith pointnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zenith point mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zenith point. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zenith point?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1760 | 0.017
1770 | 0.014
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.013
1800 | 0.012
1810 | 0.011
1820 | 0.014
1830 | 0.014
1840 | 0.016
1850 | 0.016
1860 | 0.018
1870 | 0.017
1880 | 0.015
1890 | 0.012
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.0091
1920 | 0.0078
1930 | 0.0061
1940 | 0.0058
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.0044
1970 | 0.0044
1980 | 0.0043
1990 | 0.0043
2000 | 0.0039
2010 | 0.0036

### Where does the noun zenith point come from?

Earliest known use

late 1500s

The earliest known use of the noun zenith point is in the late 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for zenith point is from 1585, in the writing of John Blagrave, mathematician.

### Nearby entries

1. Zengakuren, n. 1950–
2. Zen garden, n. 1937–
3. zenick, n. 1801–1900
4. zenitfer, n. 1596–
5. zenith, n. & adj. a1387–
6. zenithal, adj.?1731–
7. zenithal projection, n. 1877–
8. zenith-borne, adj. 1865–86
9. zenith distance, n. 1588–
10. zenith line, n. 1585–
11. zenith point, n.1585–
12. zenith sector, n. 1775–
13. zenith sweep, n. 1790–
14. zenith telescope, n. 1803–
15. zenith tube, n. 1825–
16. zenithward, n., adv., & adj. 1655–
17. zenithwards, adv. 1826–
18. Zenker, n.¹ 1872–
19. Zenker, n.² 1894–
20. Zen-like, adj. a1908–
21. Zen master, n. 1907–

## Meaning & use

1. 1585–
   The point on the celestial sphere directly overhead at a particular location; = zenith n. A.1a.
   1. 1585

      > The Azimuthes..are those which are drawne cutting all the almicantares meeting altogither at one point..: which point I call the zenith point of the reete.

      J. Blagrave, Math. Iewel ii. xvi.
   2. a1652

      > Only in North Declinations the Equinoctiall goes nearer the Zenith point, in South it goes further of.

      S. Foster, Elliptical Horologiography (1654) 63
   3. 1829

      > The zenith sector..can be used only on the meridian; and its measures are referred to the zenith point of the place of observation.

      W. Pearson, Practical Astronomy vol. II. 531
   4. 1950

      > From the known positions of the star images in the celestial sphere, the co-ordinates of the zenith point may be computed.

      Technical Data Digest January 7/3
   5. 2011

      > The observer..is at O and the plane containing the circle NESW is again the horizon with Z the zenith point.

      P. Duffet-Smith & J. Zwart, Pract. Astron. with Calculator (ed. 4) xviii. 35
   astronomy
   1. zenith c1400
      The location of a celestial object or event expressed as the point of intersection of an azimuth circle with the horizon; = azimuth, n. 2. Obsolete…
   2. zenith point 1585–
      The point on the celestial sphere directly overhead at a particular location; = zenith, n. A.1a.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zenith point typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zenith point is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zenith point, n., 1760–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1760 | 0.017
1770 | 0.014
1780 | 0.014
1790 | 0.013
1800 | 0.012
1810 | 0.011
1820 | 0.014
1830 | 0.014
1840 | 0.016
1850 | 0.016
1860 | 0.018
1870 | 0.017
1880 | 0.015
1890 | 0.012
1900 | 0.011
1910 | 0.0091
1920 | 0.0078
1930 | 0.0061
1940 | 0.0058
1950 | 0.0049
1960 | 0.0044
1970 | 0.0044
1980 | 0.0043
1990 | 0.0043
2000 | 0.0039
2010 | 0.0036

Originally published as part of the entry for zenith, n. & adj.

zenith, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.