southern

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   situated in or oriented toward the south

   a southern exposure

2. 2
   adj

   situated in or coming from regions of the south

   the southern hemisphere

3. 3
   adj

   in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line

   southern hospitality

4. 4
   adj

   Of or pertaining to a southern region, especially Southern Europe or the southern United States.

   The southern climate.

5. 5
   noun

   Synonym of southerner.

   Force prevails most with the northerns, reason with the inhabitants of a temperate or middle climate, superstition with the southerns; thus astrology, magic, and all mysterious sciences have come from the Chaldeans and Egyptians.

6. 6
   adj

   From or pertaining to the South, the south-eastern states of the United States, southern portions of some other states (e.g., Southern California), or to the inhabitants or culture of that region.

   But although Southern cooking makes use of a cornucopia of vegetables, it also typically includes generous portions of meat and fried chicken. Even vegetable dishes and breads are often cooked with animal fat: Greens are fried in bacon grease …

7. 7
   adj

   from the south

8. 8
   adj

   Of, facing, situated in, or related to the south.

Etymology

From Middle English southerne, sothern, sutherne, from Old English sūþerne (“southern, southerly, coming from the south; of southern make”), from Proto-Germanic *sunþrōnijaz (“southern”), from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂un-, *sh₂wen-, r/n-stem alternation of *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). Cognate with Scots southron, sudron (“southern”), Old Frisian sūthern, sūdern (“southern”), Middle Low German sūdern (“southern”), Middle High German sundern (“southern”), Icelandic suðrænn (“southern, tropical”). By surface analysis, south + -ern.