Etymologically
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northwest

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔːθˈwɛst/ (UK); /nɔɹθˈwɛst/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, inherited from Old English norþwest (“to the north-west”), an adverb compounded of north and west.[2][3] The noun and the adjective developed from the adverb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Toward a point between north and west: Old English, before the 12th century in MWU.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As a noun, the region lying in the northwest of a country, and as an adjective, it is from the late 14th century.[2] In United States geography the Northwest was at first the territory that later became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan (1787), organized by the Northwest Ordinance of that year;[2] after about 1853 the name went to the territory north of Nebraska and west of Minnesota,[2] and Pacific Northwest, for Oregon and Washington, is from 1874.[2] The Northwest Passage, a sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the northern coasts of North America, is from about 1600.[2] In Britain the Northwest is the part of England around Lancashire and the Lake District.[4]

Timeline

  • Old English – the adverb.[2][3]
  • late 14th century – noun and adjective.[2]
  • c. 1600 – Northwest Passage.[2]
  • 1787 – the US Northwest.[2]
  • 1874 – Pacific Northwest.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The direction or point of the compass halfway between north and west.
  2. A region lying in the northwest.
  3. (the Northwest) The northwestern part of the United States, or of England.

Adjective

  1. In, toward or facing the northwest.
  2. Coming from the northwest, as a wind.

Adverb

  1. In, from or toward the northwest.

Word family

  • northwestern
  • northwester
  • northwesterly
  • northwestwards
  • north-northwest
  • west-northwest
  • North West
  • Northwest Passage

Usage notes

Collins notes a nautical pronunciation without the th, and the CEPD gives it as /ˌnɔːˈwest/.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  5. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press