Both Uses of
meridian
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Open a passage; and I promise ye, Mistress Prynne shall be set where man, woman, and child may have a fair sight of her brave apparel from this time till an hour past meridian.†
p. 52.2 *
- The sun, but little past its meridian, shone down upon the clergyman, and gave a distinctness to his figure, as he stood out from all the earth, to put in his plea of guilty at the bar of Eternal Justice.†
p. 237.0
Definitions:
-
(1)
(meridian) one of the imaginary lines between the north and south pole that are used to establish east-to-west position (longitude)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, meridian can refer to a similar imaginary line in astronomy or mathematics. Even more rarely, it can refer to a highest point, to noon, or to acupuncture points.
In the Midwest, meridian can refer to a highway median (a strip of land that separate highway lanes going in opposite directions).