noun / adjective / adverb / proper noun
south
SOWTH/saʊθ/
The compass direction opposite north.
The man faces the sunrise and points south to his right.
Etymology
Old English suþ meant “southward” or “in the south,” before the English word became a noun naming the cardinal point. Its deeper ancestry perhaps meant “sun-side.”
In context
sealers and whalers first went sufficiently far south to encounter the sub-antarctic islands and then the antarctic peninsula
More examples
- South is opposite north on a compass.
- The garden is on the south side of the house.
- We drive south for twenty miles before stopping.
- She lives in Georgia, in the South.
Forms
southern adjective — Located in or coming from the south.
southward adverb — Toward the south or a southern location.
Similar words
- southward
- Specifies movement toward the south, rather than the direction itself.
- southerly
- Often describes winds coming from the south or southward travel.