Forms: 1, 3 suð, suþ, 3 suþe, 4–5 suthe, 4, 6 suth (6 Sc. sutht); 3 soþ, 4 soth, 6 north. soyth; 3–5 souþ (4 zouþ), 4–5 souþe, 4 sowþe; 3– south (4 souht, 5 Sc. soucht), 4–6 southe (5 Sc. souythe), 5–6 sowth(e. [Common Teut.: OE. súð, = OFris. sûth (WFris. súd, NFris. süd), OS. sûth (MLG. sût, LG. sud), OHG. sund-, sunt- (MHG. sund), ON. (with r- suffix) suðr (:—*sunþr; cf. the compar. sunnar:—*sunþar): the relationship of the stem is uncertain. One or other of these forms (perh. the ON.) is the source of OF. sur, sud, su (F. sud), Sp. sur, sud, Pg. sul.
MDu. suut (zunt), suyt (Du. zuid) and G. süd are not the native forms (which would have been respectively *zond and *sund), but are due to Fris., LG. or F. influence. In the Scand. languages there is considerable variety in the later forms, as MSw. sudher, södher, Sw. söder, Norw. sør, sud, syd, sunn, synn, Da. syd.
In some senses (as B. 2–4) usually with a capital, in others usually with a small letter, but the practice is not uniform.]
A. adv. 1. Towards, or in the direction of, that part of the earth or heavens which is directly opposite to the north. Also with modifying additions, as south by west, etc.
a. With reference to movement, extent or direction.
c. 900. O. E. Chron. (Parker MS.), an. 894. Þa þe suð ymbutan foron, ymb-sæton Exancester. Ibid. (a. 1122), (Laud MS.), an. 1092. Se cyng Willelm … ferde norð to Cardeol,… & syððan hider suð ʓewænde.
c. 1205. Lay., 2133. Locrines mær eode suð & east forð.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 234. So longe huy wenden euene south, þat [etc.].
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVI. 265. Syne thai … sowth till Lwnyk held thair way.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1039. Bot thow moste seke more southe, sydlyngs a lyttille.
1539. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 454. Fra the said croce rycht south to the Mercat-gait.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1850), I. 27. Mynding to lodge thair all nicht be the get going south.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 22 March 1652. For more than an hundred yards South.
c. 1743. Woodroofe, in Hanway, Trav., IV. lix. (1762), I. 276. Steering south and south by west.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, viii. As if the devil was blawing us south.
1855. Orr’s Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat., 147. The inclination is sometimes north, and sometimes south.
1880. Ruskin, Bible of Amiens, i. (1884), 32. Clovis’ march south against the Visigoths.
b. With reference to place or location. Also † south-by, in the south (Sc.).
Dawn South: see DOWN adv. 29.
Beowulf, 858. Moniʓ oft ʓecwæð, þætte suð ne norð … oþer næniʓ … selra nære.
c. 805. Charter, in O. E. Texts, 442. ʓif hiora oðrum oððe bæm suð forʓelimpe.
a. 1000. Boeth. Metr., x. 24. Þæt eow suð oððe norð þa ytmestan eorðbuende … miclum herien.
c. 1200. Ormin, 12125. Þa fowwre daless alle Þatt Æst, & Wesst, & Suþ, & Norrþ Þiss middellærd bilukenn.
c. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xviii. 59. Whether y be south other west.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 17. Tak kep of thise latitudes north and sowth.
1591. [see SOUTH-EASTWARD adv.].
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 38. His Regiment lies halfe a Mile … South, from the mighty Power of the King.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 401. The Realme Of Congo, and Angola fardest South.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1850), I. 27. The Erll … wes at this tym south.
1762. Bp. Forbes, Jrnl. (1886), 216. He asked me how the not-swearing clergy lived now South-by.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v. Wind, Coming to the latitude of four degrees south.
1866. Treas. Bot., 210/2. The plant … is found … from latitude 40° to 44° south.
c. In the phr. south and north. (See also NORTH adv. 1 c.)
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., I. iii. (1890), 30. Þæt is … twelf mila brad suð & norð.
1596. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 194/1. Be the grund of ane auld dyk lyand south and north.
1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., xiii. 315. The second [way runs] South and North, from Michael’s utmost Mount, To Cathnesse.
1838. Penny Cycl., XI. 439/2. A large island … which … extends about 80 miles south and north.
d. Followed by of.
1707. J. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710), 344. Rum lies 4 Leagues South of Sky.
1771. Encycl. Brit., III. 942/1. Williamstat [is] … fourteen miles south of Rotterdam.
1868. Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869), 71. The value of marling south of New Jersey.
2. From the south.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 626. In a Faire and Dry Day,… And when the Wind bloweth not South.
1762. Falconer, Shipwr., II. 242. South and by west the threatening demon blew.
3. With a south aspect.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., I. 30. When we say that a Garden lyes full South, it is when the Sun shines upon it all the day.
4. quasi-sb. = B. 1. Freq. with from or to. † Also at south, from the south.
c. 1200. Ormin, 11258. All þiss middellærd iss ec O fowwre daless dæledd, Onn Æst, o Wesst, o Suþ, o Norrþ.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 19. Þe kynges … cleymed him for þer chefe … Of North & of South … Fro Kent vntille Berwik.
c. 1391–c. 1425. [see NORTH adv. 2].
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 777. Fra south and north mony off Scotland fled.
1592. Soliman & Pers., III. iv. Monarch and mightie Emperor of the world, From East to West, from South to Septentrion.
1625. N. Carpenter, Geogr. Del., I. vi. (1635), 135. The Meridians are drawne directly from North to South.
1671. Milton, P. R., III. 273. To South the Persian Bay.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 128. The wind came off shore, for it blew at south.
1748–. [see NORTH adv. 2].
1821–2. Shelley, Chas. I., II. 419. The rainbow hung over the city … from north to south.
1842. Browning, Pied Piper, xiii. He turned from South to West, And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed.
† b. By south, in the south; on the south side.
c. 1205. Lay., 30214. Þis iherde Cadwalan, Þe king wes bi suððen.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 236. Þe feorþe dai heo i-seiȝen ane yle albi souþe on heiȝ.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. II. 117. Hit is sykerer by southe þer þe sonne regneth.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xlvii. He sayd, he was knoun and couthe, And was comun fro bi-southe.
a. 1425. [see NORTH adv. 2 b].
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. i. 75. England, from Trent, and Seuerne, hitherto By South and East is to my part assign’d.
1600. Nashe, Summers Last Will, 869, Wks. (Grosart), VI. 120. Haruest … by south and south-east, shewe thy selfe like a beast.
c. By south: (see BY prep. 9 b).
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 31. Than is it deuided in smale partiez of Azymutz, as est, and est by sowthe.
14[?]. [see SOUTH-EAST adv. 1].
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 466/2. Sowthely, or sum what be sowthe, australis.
1682. Wheler, Journ. Greece, VI. 481. I observed Corinth to lie South-East by South off us.
a. 1701. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1714), Add. 8. With a Course … South East and by South we arrived at Jan-Bolads.
1713, 1725. [see EAST D. 3].
1772–84. [see SOUTH-EAST adv. 1].
1837. Fraser’s Mag., XL. 666. Cape Trafalgar bore east by south.
5. ellipt. as prep. a. Southwards along.
1598. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 387/1. Passand south the said balk to the laitch or strype.
b. At, in, or to the south of.
Cf. a-south prep., in Henry, Wallace, X. 529.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. x. 31. Tis South the City Mils. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., II. iv. 81. The Chimney Is South the Chamber.
1787. Burns, Winter Nt., i. When Phœbus gies a short-liv’d glow’r Far south the lift.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, xi. (1900), 185. In the gray wilderness of South-the-water.
B. sb. (Usually with the.)
1. That one of the four cardinal points which is opposite to the north.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 345. Abouten eiȝte hondret mile Engelond long is Fram þe South into þe North.
a. 1325. Prose Psalter lxxvii. 30. He bare ouer þe wynde of þe souþe fram þe heuen.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 30. As the wyndes of the South Ben most of alle debonaire.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 221. Tho whyche dwellyth towarde the Sowthe … as thay of Ethiopy.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 62. iij wyndows, ane at þe suthe, a noder at þe este, & þe iij at þe weste.
1577. B. Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb., § 120. Therfore your stable must stand toward the south.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 244. Another brook from the South runneth into him.
1726–46. Thomson, Winter, 989. The winds at eve … Blow, hollow-blustering from the south.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 277. The whole mass of ears nodding, as if with one consent, to the south.
1875. Gladstone, Glean. (1879), VI. 149. If standing at the north end of the holy Table, he faces towards the south.
b. Followed by of.
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. xlvii. 1. To the south of the auter.
1778. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2), II. 1222/1. A town … to the south of mount Atlas.
1834. Picture of Liverpool, 83. To the south of George’s Pierhead.
2. The southern part of a country or region; spec. a. of England (below the Wash), Great Britain, Scotland or Ireland; the south country.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 172. Fram þe souþ tilþ to þe norþ erninge stret.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 2382. Þe Duk of Cornewaille Al þe souþ tyl hym gan taylle.
c. 1400. Brut, xxii. (1906), 26. Anoþere [way] fram þe North into þe South, þat was callede Ikenyle strete.
1543. Richmond Wills (Surtees), 50. My Lord Daykar of the soythe.
1631. Weever, Anc. Funeral Mon., 436. Baron Dacres of the South.
1691. Ray, N. Co. Words, s.v. Goulans.… In the South we usually call Marigolds simply Golds.
1707. J. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710), 307. From the Mull of Galloway in the South to Dungsbay Head … in the North.
1837. Lockhart, Scott, lii. (1845), 451/2. Letters … which Scott at this time addressed to his friends in the South.
1886. Kington Oliphant, New English, I. 222. This is still used as a Positive in Scotland, though we of the South can say only ‘most likely.’
b. The southern lands of Europe, etc.
Freq. in and after Biblical use with reference to southern Palestine.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. met. vi. (1868), 55. Þat is to seyne, alle þe poeples in þe souþe.
1382. Wyclif, Joshua xii. 8. In the south was Ethee, and Ammorree.
1535. Coverdale, Gen. xiii. 1. So Abram departed out of Egipte … towarde ye south.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 354. When her barbarous Sons Came like a Deluge on the South.
1817. Shelley, Rev. Islam, X. iv. In the scorched pastures of the South.
1890. Conan Doyle, White Company, xxiii. Here rode dark-browed cavaliers from the sunny south.
Comb. 1851. Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunters, xix. 131. The scenes through which we were passing, here soft and south-like, there wild, barren.
c. The southern States of America (cf. NORTH sb. 2 c). Orig. U.S.
1779. Storer, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1844), IV. 268. A ship … brings advice that Clinton is not going to the South as he first intended.
1857. A. Gray, First Lessons Bot. (1866), 19. Behind it is a Yucca (called Spanish Bayonet at the South).
1872. De Vere, Americanisms, 120. Certain features of the landscape in the South and West.
3. The southern part of a particular country, etc.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Sam. xxiv. 7. Thei camen into the sowth of Juda.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 185. The Prynces of the Southe of Irland.
1671. Milton, P. R., III. 320. From Atropatia … and the South Of Susiana to Balsara’s hav’n.
1773. G. White, Selborne, liii. A species of them is familiar to horsemen in the south of England.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 350. Rue is … a native of the South of Europe.
1855. Orr’s Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat., 152. The chalk of the South of England.
4. transf. The inhabitants of a southern region or district.
c. 1300. Havelok, 434. Waried wrthe he of norþ and suth.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Sam. xxvii. 10. In whom felle thou on to dai? Dauid answerde, Aȝens the south of Jude, and aȝens the south of Yranyel.
c. 1620. A. Hume, Brit. Tongue (1865), 20. Nurice, from nutrix, quhilk the south calles nurse.
1748. Gray, Alliance, 52. The prostrate South to the Destroyer yields.
1837. W. E. Channing, Annex. Texas, Wks. (1884), 541/2. Strange, that the South should think of securing its ‘peculiar institutions’ by violent means.
1861. Ld. R. Montagu, Mirr. Amer., 91. Between the North and South there will be feelings of implacable hatred.
5. The south wind. Chiefly poet.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cxxv. 5. Þe south blawand, frosyn strandis lesis and rennys.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xii. 55. Whanne ȝe seen the south blowynge, ȝe seyen, For heete schal be.
1587. D. Fenner, Song of Songs iv. 16. Wake North, and com O South, and on my garden blowe.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, I. 756. The South, with mighty roar, Dispers’d and dash’d the rest upon the rocky shore.
1757. W. Wilkie, Epigoniad, III. 69. When the north and stormy south engage.
1819. Byron, Juan, II. clxviii. Breathing all gently…, As o’er a bed of roses the sweet south.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, xxvi. 2. ’Tis not showery south, nor airy wester.
b. A south wind; esp. one of the southern gales that occur in the West Indies.
1699. Dampier, Voy., II. III. 60. In the West Indies there are three sorts [of storms], viz. Norths, Souths, and Hurricanes.
1707. Sloane, Jamaica, I. p. lix. Its being liable to be wash’d off by the violent sea-breezes or Souths.
1841. Clough, Poems (1892), 18. My wind is turned to bitter north, That was so soft a south before.
C. adj. (In early use the stem in combination.)
1. With proper names: a. Denoting the southern division of a race, nation or people.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist. (1890), 4. Fela he me sæde ymbe Suðseaxe & embe Westseaxe.
c. 1100. O. E. Chron. (MS. C.), an. 1052. He ʓespeon him to … þæne East-ende, & Suð-Sexan, & Suðriʓan.
c. 1205. Lay., 7449. Guærtaæt þe mode mid þon Suð Walscen.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VI. 153. In þe fiȝting of þe Souþ Saxons aȝenst Cedwalla.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., I. 118/2. The countrie of the Southmercies,… separated from the Northmercies by the riuer Trent.
1643. R. Baker, Chron. (1653), 7. The second Kingdome of the Heptarchy, was of the South Saxons.
1862. Borrow, Wild Wales, lxvii. The old chap who disliked South Welshmen. Ibid. The enemy of the South Welsh.
b. Denoting the southern part of a country, land, or region, or the more southerly of two places having the same name.
962. in Birch, Cartul. Saxon., III. 325. Æt Suðhamtune.
c. 1100. O. E. Chron. (MS. D), an. 1023. [They] feredon on scype his þone halʓan lichaman … to Suðʓeweorke.
c. 1205. Lay., 29925. Of Suð Wales [was] Margadud, monen alre uæȝerest.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 4355. Of South Walys com kyng Ignarcet.
c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Ireland, 6. He went hym thennes in-to south walys.
1577. Eden & Willes, Hist. Trav., 230 b. Betwyxt the West Indie or South America, and the South continent.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, III. 168. What time they were lordes of Granada in south Spaine.
1718. [see BRITAIN sb. 1].
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., V. i. iii. (1904), II. 370. From the port of Sallee, in South Barbary, to Cape Rouge.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, i. What news from the south hielands?
1866. Treas. Bot., 211/1. Camptosema rubicundum [is] a native of South Brazil. Ibid., 1044/2. Natives of South Africa.
c. With sbs. and adjs. derived from the names of countries, districts or peoples.
(a) 1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., xi. 215. The high descent of that South-Saxon King.
1775. Adair, Amer. Ind., 199. The simple native South-Americans.
1808. Jamieson, Diss., in Sc. Dict., I. 21. The Romans … conquered the South-Britains.
1862. Borrow, Wild Wales, lxvii. Anybody may know you are South Welsh by your English.
(b) 1833. Penny Cycl., I. 448. The empire of Brazil … is the principal South American state washed by the Atlantic.
1844. Lady Duff-Gordon, trans. Meinhold’s Amber Witch, Introd. His South-German language betrays a foreign origin.
1894. Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., II. 70. The pretty little South-African weasel (Pœcilogale albinucha).
(c) 1862. Borrow, Wild Wales, lxvii. The people speak neither English nor Welsh, not even South Welsh as you do.
2. With common nouns: Lying towards the south; situated on the side next the south.
Also transf. of a magnet pole: see POLE sb.2 5.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 8. Hiera suþʓemæro licgeað to þæm Readan Sæ.
971. Blickling Hom., 201. Ðær wæs seo suðduru hwæt hweʓa hade mare.
a. 1124. Eadmer, in Rock, Ch. of our Fathers (1903), I. 178, note. Principale hostium ecclesiæ, quod antiquitus ab Anglis et nunc usque Suthdure dicitur.
c. 1205. Lay., 27932. Biburied he wes þere … wið uten þan suð ȝæte.
1382. Wyclif, Ezek. xlvi. 9. He that entrith by the waye of the south ȝate.
14[?]. Sailing Directions (Hakluyt Soc., 1889), 14. A south moone makith high watir.
1473. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 85/1. xv acres of arable Lond,… liyng in the southfeldes of the seid Cite.
1560. Gargrave, in J. J. Cartwright, Chapters Hist. Yks. (1872), 10. At Shefeld, wyche was the sowthyst parte of his commyssyon.
1644. in Scottish Jrnl. Topog. (1847), I. 73. The Rebells … are betwixt vs and ye Path of Droone on ye south hand.
1738. Gentl. Mag., VIII. 577/1. By taking her Meridian Altitudes, both North and South.
1792. Morse, Amer. Geog. (ed. 2), 253. The fort near the south end of the city.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., Aug., 290. Elgin … situated on the south bank of the Lossie.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXIII. 217/1. Off the shore are the North and South roads.
Comb. c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 747. Abowne the toune, apon the southpart sid.
1862. Ansted, Channel Isl., I. i. 5. A south-central group, including Jersey.
1880. Sat. Rev., 2 Oct., 424/1. Brighton and other South-coast watering-places.
b. South Crown, Fish, Triangle: (see quots. and SOUTHERN a. 3 b).
1594. Blundevil, Exerc., IV. xix. (1636), 473. Foure other Images towards the South Pole, as the Crosse…, the South Triangle [etc.].
1638. Chilmead, trans. Hues’ Treat. Globes, II. vi. (Hakl. Soc.), 62. The foureteenth [constellation] is Corona Australis, or South Crowne…. The fifteenth is Piscis Austrinus, the South Fish.
1674. Moxon, Tutor Astron., I. iii. § 10 (ed. 3), 19. Constellations … added by Frederico Houtmanno,… who … named them as follows:… 7 The Camelion, 8 The South Triangle.
1771. Encycl. Brit., I. 487/1. The new Southern Constellations [include] … Triangulum Australis, The South Triangle.
3. Of the wind: Blowing from the south.
Cf. OE. súðan wind and SOUTHEN a.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), A 951. Auster, suðuuind.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Luke xii. 55. Miððy [ʓie ʓeseað] suð wind, ʓie cuoeðas þætte wind bið.
c. 1340. Nominale (Skeat), 567. Vent mouent et vent galerne, Southwynde, westwynde.
1388. Wyclif, Ps. lxxvii. 26. He turnede ouere the south wynde fro heuene.
14[?]. Lat.-Eng. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 596. Ventus meridialis, Southwynde.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, III. vi. 4. The south wyndis blast Our piggeis and our pinsalis wavit fast.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Ovid’s Elegies, II. viii. 19. Thou Goddesse doest command a warme South-blast.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 734. Meanwhile the Southwind rose,… with black wings Wide hovering.
1734. Pope, trans. Hor., Sat., II. ii. 27. Oh blast it, South-winds! till a stench exhale.
1820. Shelley, Orpheus, 88. I have seen A fierce south blast tear through the darkened sky.
1847. Helps, Friends in C., I. i. 4. The clang of an anvil … came faintly up to us when the wind was south.
transf. 1611. Shaks., Cymb., II. iii. 136. The South-Fog rot him.
4. Of or pertaining to the south; belonging or native to the south.
Cf. OE. súðfolc, -mæʓð, -mann.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 779. The South byschop … Till London past, and tald Eduuard him sell.
1616. Barbour’s Bruce (Hart), XVII. 843. For the South men wald that he made Arest there.
1719. W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 281. The Assiento Contract has excluded all the Subjects of Great Britain from Trading to New-Spain, but … the South-Company.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., i. For what says the south proverb.
5. Facing the south. Also Comb.
1527–8. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 343. A pane in oon of the sowth windowse.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., III. vii. 167. A South-window in summer is a chimny with a fire in’t.
1706. London & Wise, Retir’d Gard., I. I. xii. 53. A South-aspected Wall in Sussex, or about London.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), V. 30/2. A south wall … is proper for training them as wall-trees.
1842. Loudon, Suburban Hort., 177. Walls having a south aspect.
1867. Augusta Wilson, Vashti, xx. Carnations and mignonette blooming in the south window.
6. Tending towards the south.
1839. Penny Cycl., XIV. 141/1. The south declination of the sun.
1886. C. E. Pascoe, London of To-day, xxxiv. (ed. 3), 303. Within a few steps of Hanover Square, in a south direction.
7. Oxf. Univ. slang. (See quot.)
1823. Egan, Grose’s Dict. Vulgar T., South Jeopardy. Terrors of insolvency.
