The word "zenith" derives from the inaccurate [[reading]] of the Arabic expression سمت الرأس (samt ar-ra's), meaning "[[direction]] of the head" or "[[path]] above the head", by Medieval Latin scribes in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages] (during the 14th century), possibly through Old Spanish. It was reduced to 'samt' ("[[direction]]") and miswritten as 'senit'/'cenit', as the "m" was misread as an "ni". Through the Old French 'cenith', 'zenith' first appeared in the 17th century. | The word "zenith" derives from the inaccurate [[reading]] of the Arabic expression سمت الرأس (samt ar-ra's), meaning "[[direction]] of the head" or "[[path]] above the head", by Medieval Latin scribes in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages] (during the 14th century), possibly through Old Spanish. It was reduced to 'samt' ("[[direction]]") and miswritten as 'senit'/'cenit', as the "m" was misread as an "ni". Through the Old French 'cenith', 'zenith' first appeared in the 17th century. |