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Definition of "meridional" [me•rid•i•o•nal]

  • Of or relating to meridians or a meridian. (adjective)
  • Located in the south; southern. (adjective)
  • Of or characteristic of southern areas or people. (adjective)
  • An inhabitant of a southern region, especially the south of France. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "meridional" in a sentence
  • "Temperatures in the North Atlantic are influenced by a giant 'conveyor belt' of warm water from the south called the meridional overturning circulation."
  • "The currents are driven by a “conveyor belt” mechanism, known as the meridional overturning circulation, that depends on salinity to keep it running: as water from the warm Gulf moves northward, it evaporates moisture to the colder atmosphere, which increases the ocean water salinity and thus its density; the denser water sinks and flows back southward, where the cycle begins anew."
  • "After this, I have gone toward the parts meridional, that is, toward the south, and I have found that in Lybia men see first the star"