north

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /nɔːθ/, US /nɔːrθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English north, inherited from Old English norþ (“northwards, to the north”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *nurtha-,^[2] which is of uncertain origin.^[2][5] Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein connect it with Proto-Indo-European *ner- (“left; below”), since north is on the left of someone facing the rising sun, citing Oscan nertrak (“left”) and Greek νέρτερος (nérteros, “lower, infernal”);^[2][3][6] Old Irish túath (“left; northern”) shows the same idea.^[2][6] Etymonline also mentions the notion that the sun is at its lowest in the north.^[2] Its relatives include Dutch noord, German Nord and Old Norse norðr.^[3][2] French nord was borrowed from Old English, and Spanish norte and Italian nord from French.^[2][3][6] It is related to Norse, Nordic and Norman.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Northwards, in the north: Old English norþ, about 725, in Beowulf, where it also forms compounds.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is found on its own in 1131, in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[3] The noun, the northern point or direction, is late 12th century^[2] or probably before 1200, in Layamon.^[3] Northward is from the 12th century, northerly from 1551, and northerner from the 19th century,^[5][3] while northern goes back to Old English.^[5] The northern states of the US have been called the North since 1792.^[7] The verb, “to move northward”, is recorded from 1850.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English norþ (Beowulf).^[3]
• 1131 – adjective (Peterborough Chronicle).^[3]
• late 12th century – noun.^[2]
• 1551 – northerly.^[3]
• 1792 – the northern US states.^[7]
• 1850 – verb, to move north.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The direction to the left of someone facing the sunrise; the cardinal point opposite south.
2. A region lying in the north.
3. (often capitalized) The northern part of a country or of the world.

Adjective

1. In, toward, facing or coming from the north.

Adverb

1. In, from or toward the north.

Word family

• northbound
• northbridge
• northeaster
• norther
• northerly
• northern
• northerner
• northing

Related words

• Norse
• south
• Nordic
• Norman

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)