north

A2
US /noɹθ/ UK /nɔːθ/
adv adj noun Freq #1058

Meanings

  1. 1
    adv

    in a northern direction

    they earn more up north

  2. 2
    adj

    situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the north

    artists like north light

  3. 3
    noun

    The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.

    Minnesota is in the north of the USA.

  4. 4
    noun

    The up or positive direction.

    Stock prices are heading back towards the north.

  5. 5
    noun

    Alternative letter-case form of North (“a northern region; the inhabitants thereof”).

    […] and after independence the north clung to sugar production longer than the south, with the result that when the north took […]

  6. 6
    noun

    In a church: the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar.

    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.

  7. 7
    adj

    Of or pertaining to the north; northern.

    He lived in north Germany.

  8. 8
    adj

    Toward the north; northward.

    The most dangerous ones are those that develop during October and November and that follow a north path affecting the western part of the island.

Etymology

From Middle English north, from Old English norþ, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nér (“below (the surface)”). The meaning developed either from "region where the sun is below (the earth)" or from "left side of someone who turns to the east when praying". Cognates Cognate with various Germanic counterparts such as Yola noardth, nordh (“north”), North Frisian noor, nord, nuurd, Nuurđ (“north”), Saterland Frisian Noude, Nudde (“north”), West Frisian noard (“north”), Dutch noord (“north”), German Nord (“north”), Danish, Norwegian…

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Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adv · in a northern direction northerlynorthwardnorthwards
More borealseptentrional
Opposites
australmeridionalsouth
Word family
Derived forms northite
Related forms norse

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