Southern

How to spell southern

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce southern

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does southern mean?

1. adjectiveSituated in, facing toward, or coming from the south.

Southern in a sentence

• The southern coast enjoys warmer weather for most of the year.

• A strong southern wind pushed the boats back toward the harbour.

Where does southern come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends directly from the Old English sūtherne, meaning 'of or belonging to the south'. It was built on sūth, the native Anglo-Saxon word for the south, combined with the old directional ending -erne that also gave us eastern, western, and northern. The element sūth is thought to derive from a Germanic root linked to the sun, since the midday sun stands to the south for anyone living in the northern hemisphere, which is a tidy way to remember the connection. The spelling keeps the silent or barely sounded vowel before the -th, and the word is pronounced with a soft 'uh' rather than the 'ow' of south itself, which is the small trap for writers who expect it to look more like its parent. It has stayed in continuous use since before the Norman Conquest, making it one of the genuinely native words of English.

How the word is built

• south (Old English sūth: the south)
• -ern (directional adjective suffix, as in eastern, western)