2. Hence: The highest point, as of success, prosperity, or the like;
culmination.
I have touched the highest point of all my greatness, And from that
full meridian of my glory I haste now to my setting.
Shak.
3. (Astron.) A great circle of the sphere passing through the poles of
the heavens and the zenith of a given place. It is crossed by the sun
at midday.
4. (Geog.) A great circle on the surface of the earth, passing through
the poles and any given place; also, the half of such a circle included
between the poles.
The planes of the geographical and astronomical meridians coincide.
Meridians, on a map or globe, are lines drawn at certain intervals due
north and south, or in the direction of the poles.
Calculated for, or fitted to, or adapted to, the meridian of, suited to
the local circumstances, capabilities, or special requirements of.
All other knowledge merely serves the concerns of this life, and is
fitted to the meridian thereof.
Sir M. Hale.
-- First meridian, the meridian from which longitudes are reckoned. The
meridian of Greenwich is the one commonly employed in calculations of
longitude by geographers, and in actual practice, although in various
countries other and different meridians, chiefly those which pass
through the capitals of the countries, are occasionally used; as, in
France, the meridian of Paris; in the United States, the meridian of
Washington, etc. -- Guide meridian (Public Land Survey), a line, marked
by monuments, running North and South through a section of country
between other more carefully established meridians called principal
meridians, used for reference in surveying. [U.S.] -- Magnetic
meridian, a great circle, passing through the zenith and coinciding in
direction with the magnetic needle, or a line on the earth's surface
having the same direction. -- Meridian circle (Astron.), an instrument
consisting of a telescope attached to a large graduated circle and so
mounted that the telescope revolves like the transit instrument in a
meridian plane. By it the right ascension and the declination of a star
may be measured in a single observation. -- Meridian instrument
(Astron.), any astronomical instrument having a telescope that rotates
in a meridian plane. -- Meridian of a globe, or Brass meridian, a
graduated circular ring of brass, in which the artificial globe is
suspended and revolves.
Me*rid"i*o*nal (?), a. [F. méridional, L. meridionalis, fr. meridies
midday. See Meridian.]