northwesterly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled north-westerly

US /ˌnɔrθˈwɛstərli/ UK /ˌnɔːθˈwɛstəli/ See IPA manual

adj adv noun

Meanings

1

adj
toward or coming from the northwest

By dusk the breeze had swung to a stiff northwesterly.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · toward or coming from the... northwestward northwestern

Opposites

southeasterly

Word family

Related forms northwest northwestward westerly

Etymology

A compound of northwest (north + west) + -erly; north from Old English norð and west from Old English west, both of Proto-Germanic origin.

norð Old English west Old English

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Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# northwesterly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, adv, noun
**IPA (US):** ˌnɔrθˈwɛstərli
**IPA (UK):** ˌnɔːθˈwɛstəli

## Meanings
1. toward or coming from the northwest

## Examples
- By dusk the breeze had swung to a stiff northwesterly.

## Synonyms
- northwestward
- northwestern

## Antonyms
- southeasterly

## Related Forms
- northwest
- northwestward
- westerly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: norð
- Root: west

## Etymology
A compound of northwest (north + west) + -erly; north from Old English norð and west from Old English west, both of Proto-Germanic origin.

## AI Etymology
Northwesterly is a compound of northwest (north + west) + -erly; north from Old English norð and west from Old English west, both of Proto-Germanic origin. Important recorded forms include norð (Old English) and west (Old English). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers toward or coming from the northwest. The wider family includes related words such as northwest, northwestward, and westerly.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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northwesterly

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