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Origin and history of nadir

nadir(n.)

late 14c., in astronomy, "imaginary point of the celestial sphere vertically opposite to the zenith of the sun; the inferior pole of the horizon," from Medieval Latin nadir, from Arabic nazir "opposite to," in nazir as-samt, literally "opposite direction," from nazir "opposite" + as-samt "road, path" (see zenith). Transferred sense of "lowest point" of anything is recorded by 1793.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to nadir

zenith(n.)

"point of the heavens directly overhead at any place," late 14c., zineth, from Old French cenith (Anglo-French zenith, Modern French zénith) and directly from Medieval Latin zyneth, zymeth, cenit, senit, bungled scribal transliterations of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of samt ar-ras, literally "the way over the head." Letter -m- misread as -ni-.

The Medieval Latin word could as well be influenced by the rough agreement of the Arabic term with classical Latin semita "sidetrack, side path" (notion of "thing going off to the side"), from se- "apart" + *mi-ta-, a suffixed form of PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move."

The figurative sense of "highest point or state" of anything capable of having one is from c. 1600. Related: Zenithal.

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    Trends of nadir

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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