rhizoverbBeta
DictionarymeridianLine of longitude
noun

meridian

muh-RID-ee-un/məˈrɪdiən/

An imaginary line on Earth's surface joining the North and South Poles.

The marked meridian runs from the globe’s north pole to its south pole.

An isolated Earth globe with one prominent curved meridian running along its surface from the north pole to the south pole, distinguished from faint supporting longitude lines.
Etymology
meriLatinmiddle
+diLatinday
+anLatinpertaining to

The “middle of the day” connection is astronomical: a meridian marks the north–south line the sun crosses at local noon. On Earth, such a line runs through both poles.

In context

Miacademy & MiaPrep Learning Channel3:41
a system of more imaginary lines that run up and down or north to south along the prime meridian
World Geography Made Easy

More examples

  • Each meridian connects the geographic poles.
  • The map marks meridians at regular intervals.
  • They crossed the meridian during the voyage.

Forms

meridian · meridians

Similar words

longitude
Longitude is an angular position; a meridian is a line connecting points with the same longitude.
parallel
A parallel circles the globe at a latitude; a meridian runs from pole to pole.