merides

Plural of meris. Meridiaceæ (mē-rid-i-ā'sē-ē), n. pl. [NL. (Rabenhorst, 1864), meridialt (mē-rid'i-al), a. [ME. merydyall; Whole men of what age or complexion so euer they be of, shulde take theyr naturall rest and slepe in the nyght: and to eschewe merydyall sleep. [ Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 244. meridian (mē-rid' i-an), a . and n. ridian , meridien , méridien = Sp. Pg. It. meridiano , meridian us , of or belonging to midday or to the south, southern, meridies , midday, the south, orig. * me didies , medius , middle, + dies , day: see medium, midl , and dial.] I. a. 1. Of or pertaining to midday or noon; noonday: as, the meridian sun; the sun's meridian heat or splendor. In what place that any maner man ys at any tyme of the yer whan that the sonne by moevyng of the firmament cometh to his verrer meridian place, than is hit verrey Midi therfore is it cleped the lyne of midday. Chaucer, Astrolabe, ii. § 39. Towards heaven and the full blazing sun, Which now sat high in his meridian tower. Milton , P. L., iv. 30. The sun rode high in the heavens, and its meridian blaze was powerfully felt. Barham , In golds by Legends, I. 131. 2. Pertaining to the culmination or highest point or degree (the sun being highest at midday); culminating; highest before a decline: as, Athens reached its meridian glory in the age of Pericles.-3. Pertaining to or marking a geographical north and south line; extending in the arc of a great circle pa ing through the poles: as, a meridian circle on an artificial globe.-4. Noting the eighth of Profe or H. Rogers's twelve divisions of the Paleozoic series in the Appal a chi an chain of North America, the names of which suggest metaphorically the different natural periods of the day: it corresponds 3717 5. Figuratively, the state or condition (in any respect) of the people of one place or region, or of persons in one sphere or plane of existence, as compared with those of or in another: as, the institutions or customs of Asia are not suited to the meridian of Europe. All other knowledge merely serves the concerns of this life, and is fitted to the meridian thereof. Sir M. Hale, Orig. of Mankind. First or prime meridian, the meridian from which longitude is reckoned, as that of Green wich. See longitude, 2. Magnetic meridian of any place, a great circle the plane of which pa es through that place and the line of direction of the horizontal magnetic needle. The angle which the magnetic makes with the true geographical meridian is different in different places and at different times, and is called the magnetic declination or the variation of the compa . See declination, and agonic line (under agonic ). - Meridian of a globe, a meridian drawn upon a globe; especially, a bra circle concentric with the globe, and having the axis of rotation of the globe fixed in the plane of one of its faces. — Secondary meridian, in geog., a meridian whose longitude from the prime meridian has been so well determined that trustworthy longitudes may be as certained by measuring from it. meridian-circle (me-rid'i-an-ser kl), n. An astronomical instrument consisting of a telescope with cro -wires and moving in the plane of the meridian, and provided with a graduated circle. The meridian-circle subserves the same purposes as the transit-instrument, and also determines the declinations of stars.