MERIDIAN

Pronunciation (US):

• MERIDIAN (noun)
  The noun MERIDIAN has 3 senses:

1. the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
2. a town in eastern Mississippi
3. an imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles at right angles to the equator

  Familiarity information: MERIDIAN used as a noun is uncommon.

• MERIDIAN (adjective)
  The adjective MERIDIAN has 2 senses:

1. of or happening at noon
2. being at the best stage of development

  Familiarity information: MERIDIAN used as an adjective is rare.

• MERIDIAN (noun)

Meaning:

The highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

acme; tiptop; meridian; summit; superlative; pinnacle; height; elevation; peak; top

Context examples:

his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty / the artist's gifts are at their acme / at the height of her career / the peak of perfection / summer was at its peak / ...catapulted Einstein to the pinnacle of fame / the summit of his ambition / so many highest superlatives achieved by man / at the top of his profession

Hypernyms ("meridian" is a kind of...):

degree; level; point; stage (a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process)

Meaning:

A town in eastern Mississippi

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

town (an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city)

Holonyms ("Meridian" is a part of...):

Magnolia State; Mississippi; MS (a state in the Deep South on the gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate States during the American Civil War)

Meaning:

An imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles at right angles to the equator

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

line of longitude; meridian

Context example:

all points on the same meridian have the same longitude

Hypernyms ("meridian" is a kind of...):

great circle (a circular line on the surface of a sphere formed by intersecting it with a plane passing through the center)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "meridian"):

observer's meridian (a meridian that passes through the observer's zenith)

prime meridian (meridian at zero degree longitude from which east and west are reckoned (usually the Greenwich longitude in England))

magnetic meridian (an imaginary line passing through both magnetic poles of the Earth)

Instance hyponyms:

date line; dateline; International Date Line (an imaginary line on the surface of the earth following (approximately) the 180th meridian)

• MERIDIAN (adjective)

Meaning:

Of or happening at noon

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

meridian hour

Pertainym:

noon (the middle of the day)

Meaning:

Being at the best stage of development

Synonyms:

meridian; prime

Context example:

our manhood's prime vigor

Similar:

mature (having reached full natural growth or development)