southern

English Online Dictionary. What means southern‎? What does southern mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English southerne, sothern, sutherne, from Old English sūþerne (“southern, southerly, coming from the south; of southern make”), from Proto-Germanic *sunþrōnijaz (“southern”), from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂un-, *sh₂wen-, r/n-stem alternation of *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognate with Scots southron, sudron (“southern”), Old Frisian sūthern, sūdern (“southern”), Middle Low German sūdern (“southern”), Middle High German sundern (“southern”), Icelandic suðrænn (“southern, tropical”).

By surface analysis, south +‎ -ern.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌðən/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌðɚn/, enPR: sŭth′ərn
• (rare, parts of Ontario and Canadian Prairies) IPA^(key): /ˈsaʊðɚn/, enPR: south′ərn

Adjective

southern (comparative more southern, superlative most southern)

1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the south.
2. Of or pertaining to a southern region, especially Southern Europe or the southern United States.
3. Of a wind: blowing from the south; southerly.

Synonyms

• southerly
• austral
• meridional

Antonyms

• northern
• boreal
• septentrional

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

southern (plural southerns)

1. Synonym of southerner.

See also

• eastern
• western
• oriental
• occidental

Anagrams

• Neuroths, turnshoe