south
/ˈsaʊ̯θ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.40 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The direction towards the pole to the right-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 180°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the southern side of the invariable plane.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
In a church: the direction to the right-hand side of a person facing the altar.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
from the south.
adj
Of or pertaining to the south; southern.
adj
Pertaining to the part of a corridor used by southbound traffic.
Example Sentences
- "Germany is south of Denmark."
- "Just before independence (in 1955) the military garrison in the south rebelled and that was the beginning of a civil war between the north and the south ..."
- "What was said [prior to 2003] is that the south rebelled. Even then; rebelled? What rebelled? Who was supporting Saddam other than the people of the south?"
- "When Nimeiri ended that autonomy in 1983, the south took up arms. This Second Sudanese Civil War ended only after four years of formal talks […]"
- "If candidates stand on the liturgical south facing the presider and liturgical assistants on the liturgical north, it will present better visual lines for the congregation than if they stand facing east and west with their backs toward the congregation."
- "It is to be situated in the chancel on the right (i.e., liturgical south) side of the church."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *sunþ Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ ~ *sh₂wén- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ún-teros Proto-Germanic *sunþraz ▲ Proto-Germanic *sunþraz Proto-Germanic *sunþrą Proto-West Germanic *sunþr Old English sūþ Middle English south English south From Middle English south, from Old English sūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr (“southern”), from Proto-Germanic *sunþrą (“south”), from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognates Cognate with Scots sooth (“south”), Yola zouth (“south”), North Frisian sööd, Süđ, süüd (“south”), Saterland Frisian Sude, Suud (“south”), West Frisian súd (“south”), Dutch zuid (“south”), German Süd (“south”), Danish syd (“south”), Faroese and Icelandic suður (“south”), Norwegian Bokmål syd, sør (“south”), Norwegian Nynorsk sør (“south”), Swedish syd, söder (“south”); also with Irish súil (“eye”), Cornish howl (“sun”), Manx sooill (“eye”), Scottish Gaelic sùil (“eye”), Welsh haul (“sun”), Latin sōl (“sun”), Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun; east; day”), Czech slunce (“sun”), Polish słońce (“sun”), Russian солнце (solnce, “sun”), Serbo-Croatian сунце, sunce (“sun”), Slovene sonce (“sun”), Latgalian saule (“sun”), Latvian saũle (“sun”), Lithuanian sáulė (“sun”), Albanian diell (“sun”), Avestan 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 (huuar^ə, “sun”), Persian خور (xwar, “sun”), Ossetian хор (xor), хур (xur, “sun”), Sanskrit सूर्य (sūrya, “sun”), Tocharian A swāñce (“beam, ray”), Tocharian B swāñco (“beam, ray”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: south, sūþ, *sunþr, *sunþrą, *sóh₂wl̥
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsaʊ̯θ/
- British English: /ˈsaʊ̯θ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
souths (plural)
further south (comparative)
farther south (comparative)
furthest south (superlative)
farthest south (superlative)
souths (present, singular)
southing (participle, present)
southed (participle, past)
southed (past)
the South (canonical)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
Antonyms
antonym(s) of