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”).

Morphologically 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