zenith
/ˈzi.nɪθ/noun
zenith is spelled Z-E-N-I-T-H: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, zenith means “The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of zenith is zeniths.
How many letters and syllables are in zenith?
| Letters | 6: Z-E-N-I-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is zenith?
Zenith appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce zenith?
- UK /ˈzɛn.ɪθ/
- US /ˈzi.nɪθ/
Zenith has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-zenith.ogg, En-us-zenith.ogg, En-au-zenith.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of zenith
- zeniths plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does zenith mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.
- 2
The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.
- 3
Highest point or state; peak.
Winning the continental championship was the zenith of my career.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Zenith in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | zénith |
| German | Zenit |
| Portuguese | zénite, zênite , topo, cume |
| Spanish | cenit, cénit, zenit, zénit , apogeo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does zenith come from?
From Middle English cenyth, from Medieval Latin cenit, from Arabic سَمْت (samt, “direction, path”), from the fuller form سَمْت اَلرَّأْس (samt ar-raʔs, “direction of the head”). The -ni- for -m- is sometimes thought to be due to a misreading of the three strokes, which is plausible, though it could be a mere phonetic approximation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).