northern

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈnɔː.ðᵊn/^[1], US /ˈnɔɹ.ðɚn/^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English northerne,^[3] inherited from Old English norþerne (“northern, Northumbrian, Scandinavian”),^[4][5] formed from north and the suffix -erne, which denotes direction.^[4][5] It is cognate with Old High German nordrōni “northern” and Old Norse norrœnn “Norwegian”.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of people, living in or coming from the north: about 890.^[6] Of the wind, blowing from the north, is from before 1000.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Old English applied it to Northumbrians and Scandinavians.^[4] It came to mean belonging to or found in the north (1387)^[6] and lying towards the north (1590).^[6] Northern Lights, the aurora borealis, is recorded by 1721.^[4][6] In the United States it was applied to the northern States from 1836,^[6] and northerner, a resident of those States, by 1818,^[4] though the word is found as an English surname in the late 13th century.^[4] In Scots and northern English dialect, a northern gad was a spear.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 890 – of people, from the north.^[6]
• before 1000 – of the wind.^[6]
• 1387 – belonging to the north.^[6]
• 1590 – lying to the north.^[6]
• 1721 – Northern Lights.^[4][6]
• 1818 – northerner, of the US northern states.^[4]
• 1836 – of the US northern States.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. In, towards or facing the north.
2. Coming from the north: a northern wind.
3. Native to or growing in the north.
4. Of or typical of northern regions, or of the North of a country.
5. North of the equator.

Word family

• northernness
• northernmost

Related words

• north
• southern
• eastern
• western
• Norse

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)