Where does “zenith” come from?

Zenith comes from Middle English cenyth, from Medieval Latin cenit, from Arabic سَمْت, short for Arabic سَمْت اَلرَّأْس meaning "path of the head," referring to the point in the sky directly overhead.

zenith (English): The point in the sky vertically above a given...

Definitions

  1. The point in the sky vertically above a given...

Ancestry of “zenith”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcenythzenith
2Medieval Latincenitzenith
3Arabicسَمْتdirection, path
4Aramaicסֵימִטָא—
5Latinsēmitanarrow way, footpath, path, pathway
6Proto-Italicsēmitā—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanswé(d)—

Words derived from “zenith”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European swé(d) →Every word from Proto-Italic sēmitā →Every word from Latin sēmita →