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south

Pronunciation: /ˈsaʊ̯θ/

The English word “south” has 14 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The direction towards the pole to the right-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 180°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the southern side of the invariable plane.
  2. The southern region or area; the inhabitants thereof.
  3. In a church: the direction to the right-hand side of a person facing the altar.
  4. The negative or south pole of a magnet.

adjective

  1. Toward the south; southward.
  2. from the south.
  3. Of or pertaining to the south; southern.
  4. Pertaining to the part of a corridor used by southbound traffic.
  5. Designating, or situated in, the liturgical south.

adverb

  1. Downward.
  2. In an adverse direction or trend.
  3. Of wind, from the south.

verb

  1. To turn or move toward the south; to veer toward the south.
  2. To come to the meridian; to cross the north and south line.

Etymology

From Middle English south, from Old English sūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr (“southern”), from Proto-Germanic *sunþrą (“south”), from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognates Cognate with Scots sooth (“south”), Yola zouth (“south”), North Frisian sööd, Süđ, süüd (“south”), Saterland Frisian Sude, Suud (“south”), West Frisian súd (“south”), Dutch zuid (“south”), German Süd (“south”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.