northern

N1O1R1T1H4E1R1N1
UK/ˈnɔː.ðən/UK[ˈnɔːðn̩]nonstandard/ˈnɒ.ðə(ɹ)n/Canada, US/ˈnɔɹ.ðɚn/

adjective

Of, facing, situated in, or related to the north; northerly.

“Les Dawson was a famous northern comedian.”

Very commonScrabble 11

Meanings

northern1

adjectivenorthern (comparative more northern, superlative most northern or northernmost)

comparative more northern · superlative most northern · superlative northernmost

  1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the north; northerly.

    Sadhana and Sanjeev Prasad, who live in Haridwar, a city in northern Uttarakhand state, filed a petition this month seeking 50 million Indian rupees (about $643,000) in damages from their son, 35, and his wife, 31.

    2022 May 17, Esha Mitra and Jessie Yeung, “Indian couple sue only son for not giving them grandchildren”, in CNN
    1 more example

    Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages.

    2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, archived from the original on 01 Nov 2020, page 28
  2. Blowing from the north; northerly.
  3. UKCharacteristic of the North of England (usually capitalised)

    Les Dawson was a famous northern comedian.

nounnorthern (plural northerns)

plural northerns

  1. An inhabitant of the northern regions; a northerner.
  2. fishingThe northern pike.

    As is the case with northerns, the female muskie, trailed by her attendant males, may broadcast eggs over several hundred yards.

    1993, Barry Reynolds, John Berryman, Pike on the Fly: The Flyfishing Guide to Northerns, Tigers, and Muskies
  3. A film or other dramatic work set primarily in the late 19th or early 20th century in the north of North America, primarily in western Canada but also in Alaska, often with a Mountie as the protagonist.

Northern2

adjectiveNorthern (comparative more Northern, superlative most Northern)

comparative more Northern · superlative most Northern

  1. UKCharacteristic of the North of England (the North) (usually capitalised).

    Les Dawson was a famous Northern comedian.

  2. USCharacteristic of the northern part of the United States (the North) (usually capitalised).

    She's a Northern girl, so she had to ask what hush puppies and mudbugs are. We were happy to serve her the answer on a platter!

proper nounNorthern (plural Northerns)

plural Northerns

  1. The Northern Line of the London Underground.
  2. UShistoricalAny of several former railroads called the Northern Railroad in the 19th century.

    We don't move any freight on the Northern anymore.

nounNorthern (plural Northerns)

plural Northerns

  1. rail transportA steam locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.

    It takes something big, like a Northern, to pull a train of this size.

    1 more example

    Along the UP Trail, America's original transcontinental, mention of the 800's will long recall the capable, long-legged Northerns that were built for standard-weight limiteds but often doubled for diesels on the City streamliners.

    1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co., page 106

    Synonyms: Northern Pacific

  2. CanadaA genre of fiction focusing on the untamed northern territory of Canada and sometimes Alaska, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

    I decided to kick back and lose myself in a good Northern for a while.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA steam locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.

Similar
Northern Pacific

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivein or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line

Opposite

adjectiveoriented toward the north

adjectivecoming from the north; used especially of wind

adjectivesituated in regions of the north

Similar
Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*nurþrōnijaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*norþrōnī
  3. Old Englishnorþerne
  4. Middle Englishnortherne
  5. Englishnorthern

From Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn. Morphologically north + -ern.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek βόρειος, βόρειος
  • βόρειος (bóreios)facing, situated in or related to the north
  • βόρειος (bóreios)of wind
Arabic شَمَالِيّ
  • شَمَالِيّ (šamāliyy)facing, situated in or related to the north
Basque iparreko
  • iparrekofacing, situated in or related to the north
Bengali উত্তর
  • উত্তর (uttor)facing, situated in or related to the north
Bulgarian се́верен
  • се́верен (séveren)facing, situated in or related to the north
Catalan septentrional
  • septentrionalfacing, situated in or related to the north
Chinese Mandarin 北的, 北方的
  • 北的 (běi de)facing, situated in or related to the north
  • 北方的 (běifāng de)facing, situated in or related to the north
Czech severní
  • severnífacing, situated in or related to the north
Danish nordlig
  • nordligfacing, situated in or related to the north
Dutch noordelijk
  • noordelijkfacing, situated in or related to the north
Esperanto norda
  • nordafacing, situated in or related to the north
Estonian põhjamaine, põhja-
  • põhjamainefacing, situated in or related to the north
  • põhja-facing, situated in or related to the north
Finnish pohjois-, pohjoisenglantilainen
  • pohjois-facing, situated in or related to the north
  • pohjoisenglantilainencharacteristic of North of England
  • pohjoinenof wind
  • pohjois-of wind
French septentrional, boréal
  • septentrionalfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • boréalfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • biseof wind
German nördlich, Nord-
  • nördlichfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • Nord-facing, situated in or related to the north
Greek βόρειος
  • βόρειος (vóreios)facing, situated in or related to the north
Hebrew צְפוֹנִי
  • צְפוֹנִי (tsfoní)facing, situated in or related to the north
Hindi उत्तरी
  • उत्तरी (uttarī)facing, situated in or related to the north
Hungarian északi
  • északifacing, situated in or related to the north
Icelandic norður
  • norðurfacing, situated in or related to the north
Irish tuaisceartach, thuaidh
  • tuaisceartachfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • thuaidhfacing, situated in or related to the north
Italian settentrionale, nordico
  • settentrionalefacing, situated in or related to the north
  • nordicofacing, situated in or related to the north
  • borealefacing, situated in or related to the north
Japanese 北の, 北方の
  • 北の (kita no)facing, situated in or related to the north
  • 北方の (hoppō no)facing, situated in or related to the north
Korean 북의, 북쪽의
  • 북의 (bug-ui)facing, situated in or related to the north
  • 북쪽의 (bukjjog-ui)facing, situated in or related to the north
Latin boreālis, borēus
  • boreālisfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • borēusfacing, situated in or related to the north
Latvian ziemeļu
  • ziemeļufacing, situated in or related to the north
Lithuanian šiaurinis, šiaurės
  • šiaurinisfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • šiaurėsfacing, situated in or related to the north
Norwegian Bokmål nordlig
  • nordligfacing, situated in or related to the north
Persian شمالی
  • شمالی (šomâli)facing, situated in or related to the north
Polish północny, północny
  • północnyfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • północnyof wind
Portuguese setentrional, nortenho
  • setentrionalfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • nortenhofacing, situated in or related to the north
  • borealfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • norteof wind
Romanian nordic, boreal
  • nordicfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • borealfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • septentrionalfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • nordicof wind
Russian се́верный
  • се́верный (sévernyj)facing, situated in or related to the north
Scottish Gaelic a tuath, tuath
  • a tuathfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • tuathfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • a tuathof wind
Slovak severný
  • severnýfacing, situated in or related to the north
Spanish septentrional, norteño
  • septentrionalfacing, situated in or related to the north
  • norteñofacing, situated in or related to the north
  • borealfacing, situated in or related to the north
Swedish nordlig
  • nordligfacing, situated in or related to the north
Tagalog kahilagaan
  • kahilagaanfacing, situated in or related to the north
Thai เหนือ
  • เหนือ (nʉ̌ʉa)facing, situated in or related to the north
Turkish kuzey
  • kuzeyfacing, situated in or related to the north
Ukrainian півні́чний
  • півні́чний (pivníčnyj)facing, situated in or related to the north
Urdu شُمالی
  • شُمالی (śumālī)facing, situated in or related to the north
Vietnamese bắc
  • bắcfacing, situated in or related to the north
Welsh gogleddol
  • gogleddolfacing, situated in or related to the north
Yiddish צפֿונדיק
  • צפֿונדיק (tsofndik)facing, situated in or related to the north
Cite this entry
APA

northern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northern

MLA

“northern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northern. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “northern,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northern.

Source: northern on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.