Southbound

How to spell southbound

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce southbound

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does southbound mean?

1. adjectiveTravelling or leading towards the south.

Southbound in a sentence

• The southbound train was delayed by signal problems near the coast.

• Heavy traffic built up on the southbound carriageway during the evening rush.

Where does southbound come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a compound built from two old English-language elements. 'South' descends from Old English suth, the name of the cardinal direction, ultimately linked to a Germanic root that may relate to the sun's position at midday. The '-bound' part is the surprising one: it does not come from 'bind' as many assume, but from the Old Norse buinn, meaning 'ready' or 'prepared', the past participle of bua 'to get ready'. Travellers who were 'bound' for a place were originally simply 'ready' to set off in that direction. The pairing as a single travel-direction adjective became common in the railway and shipping age of the 1800s, when timetables needed to label which way a train or vessel was heading.

How the word is built

• south (cardinal direction)
• bound (heading for, from Old Norse buinn 'ready, prepared to go')