south

Pronunciation

• IPA: /saʊθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English south (also suth),^[2][3] inherited from Old English sūþ (“southward, in the south”),^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *sunþaz.^[4][5] This is perhaps literally “sun-side”, from the base of *sunnōn (“sun”), from Proto-Indo-European *sawel- (“the sun”);^[4] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster also see a probable link with sun.^[5][7] Its relatives include Dutch zuid, German Süden and Old Norse suðr.^[4][8][3] French sud and Spanish sur were borrowed from Germanic, perhaps from Old Norse.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Southward, in the south, as an adverb: Old English sūþ, about 725, in Beowulf.^[5] Old English also used it as the first part of compounds such as sūþdǣl, “the southern region”, before 800.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As the first part of a compound, Old English sūþ was often shortened, which is why place names such as Suffolk (the “south folk”), Sutton (“south town”) and Sussex (the “South Saxons”) are pronounced with a short vowel.^[6] The noun, the cardinal point and the southern part of a country, dates from the late 13th century,^[4][5] and the adjective from about 1300.^[4][5] Southward is from about 1290, southern from about 1300 (from Old English sūþerne), and southerly from 1551.^[5] The southern states of the US have been called the South since 1779.^[4] In Middle English the South Sea was the Mediterranean, and later the English Channel; from the 1520s the South Seas were the South Pacific.^[4] A southwester was a wind from 1833 and a waterproof hat from 1836.^[5] The verb “to turn or move south” is recorded from 1725.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English sūþ (Beowulf).^[5]
• before 800 – sūþdǣl, the south.^[5]
• late 13th century – noun, the south.^[4]
• c. 1290 – southward.^[5]
• c. 1300 – adjective, and southern.^[4][5]
• 1520s – South Seas, the South Pacific.^[4]
• 1551 – southerly.^[5]
• 1725 – verb, to move south.^[9]
• 1779 – the South (US).^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The direction to the right of someone facing the sunrise; the cardinal point opposite north.
2. A region lying in the south.
3. (usually capitalized) The southern part of a country, especially the southern states of the US.

Adjective

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

Adverb

1. In, from or toward the south.

Verb

1. To turn or move toward the south.

Word family

• southeasterly
• southeastern
• souther
• southmost
• southpaw

Related words

• sun
• Sussex
• Suffolk
• southern
• north

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press