southern

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Located in or facing the south.

   The house has a southern exposure, so it gets plenty of sun.

2. 2
   adj

   Coming from or belonging to a region in the south.

   Penguins live in the southern hemisphere.

3. 3
   adj

   Relating to the southern United States and its culture.

   The restaurant is famous for its warm southern hospitality.

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.

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