northern

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈnɒ.ðə(ɹ)n/ UK /ˈnɔː.ðən/ See IPA manual

Freq #4270

Meanings

1

adj
In, from, or facing the north.

Winters are much colder in the northern part of the country.
2

adj
Belonging to the northern half of the world.

Summer in the northern hemisphere begins in June.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · in, from, or facing the north. northerly

More boreal septentrional

Opposites

austral meridional southern

Word family

Forms northernmostnortherns

Derived forms nonnorthernnorthernernorthernestnorthernismnorthernizationnorthernizenorthernlynorthernmostnorthernnessunnorthern

Related forms easternoccidentaloriental western

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

northern hemisphere
the half of the Earth lying north of the equator

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn. Morphologically north + -ern.

northerne Middle English norþerne Old English *norþrōnī Proto-West Germanic *nurþrōnijaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# northern

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈnɒ.ðə(ɹ)n/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnɔː.ðən/
**Frequency rank:** 4270

## Meanings
1. In, from, or facing the north.
2. Belonging to the northern half of the world.

## Examples
- Winters are much colder in the northern part of the country.
- Summer in the northern hemisphere begins in June.

## Synonyms
- boreal
- septentrional

## Antonyms
- austral
- meridional
- southern

## Derived Forms
- nonnorthern
- northerner
- northernest
- northernism
- northernization
- northernize
- northernly
- northernmost
- northernness
- unnorthern

## Related Forms
- eastern
- occidental
- oriental
- western

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: northerne
- Root: norþerne
- Root: *norþrōnī
- Root: *nurþrōnijaz

## Etymology
From Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn. Morphologically north + -ern.

## AI Etymology
Northern comes from Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn. Morphologically north + -ern. Modern senses include in, from, or facing the north and belonging to the northern half of the world. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonnorthern, northerner, northernest, northernism, northernization, and northernize and related forms such as eastern, occidental, oriental, and western.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown