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Glite Dictionary
meridian line

meridian line

4.4
An imaginary line on Earth's surface joining the North and South Poles that shows longitude
  • noun
  • /məˈrɪdiən laɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : línea de meridiano
  • The Prime Meridian is the best-known meridian line and passes through Greenwich, England.

Examples

  • The meridian line divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

  • Ancient astronomers used a meridian line to track the movement of the sun.

  • His navigation chart showed every meridian line along with degrees of longitude.

  • The meridian line runs through Greenwich, England.

  • Many countries use the meridian line for navigation.

  • At noon, the sun is positioned directly above the meridian line.

  • Sailors use the meridian line to calculate their longitude while navigating.

Synonyms

meridian
vsmeridian line
  • Specialized
3 6.7

An imaginary line from the North Pole to the South Pole that shows position east or west

uses a two-word phrase instead of the single-word term
line of longitude
vsmeridian line
  • Specialized
3.5

An imaginary north-south line through both poles showing location east or west

emphasizes connecting the poles to show longitude rather than geometric angle

Surface Forms

meridian line singular
meridian lines plural

Morphology

meridian + line

The meaning is directly compositional: 'meridian' already denotes a line of longitude and adding 'line' simply labels it as a linear feature, so the overall sense is predictable from the constituents. This concept (a longitudinal/meridian line) is cross-linguistically common and follows standard noun+noun compounding, making it accessible to learners who know both words.

Etymology

Meridian line paints a clear picture: a straight line on a globe running from the North Pole to the South Pole. The word meridian is linked to 'midday' because the sun reaches its highest point when it crosses that line, so these lines were used to mark 'longitude' and 'local time'.