Meridian
Meridian names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Meridian a word connected in various ways with the idea of noon
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a word connected in various ways with the idea of noon, or applied to the special conditions or culminating point in connection with a country, sphere of life, career, etc. In geology: Noon-day; in allusion to the mid-day date of the strata to which it is applied. A term appropriated to certain middle formations of the Appalachian Palæozoic system, which are called in the New York Survey the Oriskany Sandstone, and which appear to rocks of England. The greatest thickness of this sandstone is less than 200 feet. Celestial meridian: The great circle marked out on the srhere by the prolongation of the terrestrial meridian passing through the spot where the observer stands. Meridian altitude of the sun or of a star, altitude when on the meridian of the place where it is observed. Meridian distance of a point, the distance from the point to some assumed meridian, generally the one drawn through the extreme E. or W. point of the survey. Meridian of a globe, the brazen circle in which it turns and by which it is supported; also meridian lines drawn on the globe itself, generally at a distance of 15°. Terrestrial meridian, the terrestrial meridian of any place on the earth's surface is a great circle passing through both of the earth's poles and the place.
Meridian a city and county-seat of Lauderdale co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and county-seat of Lauderdale co., Miss., on the Queen and Crescent Route, the Southern, and the Mobile and Ohio railroads; 90 miles E. of Jackson. It contains Meridian electric lights, National and savings banks, and daily and weekly newspapers. Meridian is in the heart of a rich lumber region which accounts for its large trade. It has machine shops, cotton mills, and other manufactories. It was here, on Feb. 16, 1864, that General Sherman made "the most complete destruction of railways ever held." Pop. (1910) 23,- 385; (1920) 23,399.
Meridian . See Longitude
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
. See Longitude
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The astronomical definitions Collier's gave in 1921 still hold, but the reference point has shifted: the meridian used by satellite navigation, the IERS Reference Meridian of the WGS 84 system underlying GPS, lies about 102 metres east of the brass-and-stone transit circle at Greenwich, because modern positions are fixed to the Earth's centre of mass rather than to a telescope's plumb line. The "brazen circle" of a globe's mounting that Collier's described is now a curiosity, and "Meridian" as a name for Appalachian strata has dropped out of geological use in favour of Oriskany Sandstone. Meridian, Mississippi, listed at 23,399 people in 1920, grew to about 49,000 by 1960 and has since fallen back to roughly 35,000 at the 2020 census, its lumber and railroad economy long gone; Sherman's 1864 raid is still the event most cited in its history.
Written for this edition, 2026.