sud Italian · revision 38220

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1561, Moleto|origins=gem-pro *sunþrą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsud/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sud''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|sud]], which comes from [[ang|sūþ]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI dates the French word to 1529 and GRADIT to about 1170, and DEI and Prati to the 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3671)^(Prati 1951|961) DEI and Prati also allow a Spanish source, but Andrea Dardi, quoted by DELI, rules it out: [[es|sur]] was the form of the 16th and 17th centuries, and ⟨sud⟩ appears only from 1734.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3671) In that period the usual Italian forms were ⟨sur⟩ and ⟨sul⟩, taken from Spanish and, from [[pt|sul]], and Bartoli wrote ⟨sul⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|961) Zaccaria thought the word came in through 16th-century trade with the Dutch, Flemish and English sailors of the Atlantic, and Tommaseo called it a Dutch word.^(Zaccaria 1901)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The English word goes back to [[gem-pro|*sunþrą]].^(Wiktionary) Nocentini connects it with a Germanic word for “right”, since the south lies to the right of one who faces the sunrise, as the north lies to the left.^(Nocentini 2010) [[goh|sundan]] lost its ⟨n⟩ in [[de|Süden]], a sign that the modern word came from Low German.^(Zaccaria 1901)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI and GRADIT date the word to 1561, in the geographer Moleto, who notes that “our people call it ''ostro'' and ''mezzogiorno'', and those of the Ocean ''sut''”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Zingarelli dates it before 1557, and Zaccaria cites Pigafetta, who died in 1531.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Zaccaria 1901)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ DEI's first record of ''sud'' is in Corsini (1699), with the sense “south wind” in Oudin's dictionary (1663); Siri measured a distance “dal Nort al Sud” in 1644.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3671)^(GDLI|20) The sense “southern part of a country” is recorded in the Milanese press in 1846.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Sud'' came to mean the southern regions of Italy, with their lower level of industry, and the poorer countries of the world (''il Sud del mondo'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Compounds followed: ''sudest'' and ''sudovest'' in the first half of the 18th century, ''sudafricano'' (1892), perhaps after English ''South African'', ''sudamericano'' (1914) and ''sudista'', a Southerner in the American Civil War.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) In sailors' slang ''sudovest'' was a sou'wester, the oilskin hat, after the English word (1927).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1561 – Moleto has ''sut'' as the sailors' name for the south.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ * 1644 – Siri writes ''dal Nort al Sud''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|20)

+ * 1663 – Oudin records the sense “south wind”.^(DEI|3671)

+ * 1699 – Corsini uses ''sud''.^(DEI|3671)

+ * First half of the 18th century – ''Sudest'' and ''sudovest'' are recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1846 – The sense “southern part of a country” appears in the Milanese press.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1892 – ''Sudafricano'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1927 – Panzini records ''sudovest'' “sou'wester”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|south|alt=South]]: the cardinal point opposite the north, where the sun stands at midday (symbol S): ''La finestra guarda a sud.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The southern part of a country or region: ''Hanno una casa nel sud della Francia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(usually capitalised)'' The South of Italy, the regions of the [[mezzogiorno|alt=Mezzogiorno]]: ''Si è trasferito al Sud per lavoro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(usually capitalised)'' The economically less developed countries of the world.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(bridge)'' The position of the player who partners North.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Southern, facing south (after a noun, invariable): ''il versante sud della collina''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sudest]]

+ * [[sudovest]]

+ * [[sudista]]

+ * [[sudafricano]]

+ * [[sudamericano]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nord]]

+ * [[mezzogiorno]]

+ * [[en|south]]

+ * [[fr|sud]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sud'' is invariable.^(Wiktionary) ''Profondo Sud'', “the Deep South”, is used of deprived southern regions, in America and in Europe.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Its synonyms are ''mezzogiorno'' and ''meridione''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}