north

plural norths

1. countableuncountableThe direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.

   Minnesota is in the north of the USA.

2. countableuncountableThe up or positive direction.

   Stock prices are heading back towards the north.

3. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe positive or north pole of a magnet, which seeks the magnetic pole near Earth's geographic North Pole (which, for its magnetic properties, is a south pole).
4. countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of North (“a northern region; the inhabitants thereof”).First known use circa 1300

   […] and after independence the north clung to sugar production longer than the south, with the result that when the north took […]

   2002, Mats Lundahl, Politics or Markets?: Essays on Haitian Underdevelopment, Routledge, →ISBN

5. countableuncountableecclesiasticalIn a church: the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar.

   At St. Andrew's, ecclesiastical north, south, east, and west correspond to geographical northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest.

   2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365

   3 more examples

   If candidates stand on the liturgical south facing the presider and liturgical assistants on the liturgical north, it will present better visual lines for the congregation than if they stand facing east and west with their backs toward the congregation.

   1998, Leonel L. Mitchell, Pastoral and Occasional Liturgies: A Ceremonial Guide, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 49

   Many early Christian basilicas were designed with twin ambos for the proclamation of the epistle (on the liturgical south side) and the Gospel (on the north). The separation of the ambos indicated the distinction that should be accorded the Gospel, which was proclaimed from the north as if evangelization needed to happen to the geographically southern part of the world.

   2011, Paul Turner, At the Supper of the Lamb: A Pastoral and Theological Commentary on the Mass, LiturgyTrainingPublications, →ISBN, page 27

   The new St Mary's Anglican Church, Walkerville, has an attached rectory flanking to the liturgical south and an attached parish hall flanking to the liturgical north, both half-timbered in the Tudor Revival style. [Referring to a church that is oriented SSE, making "south" WSW]

   2017, Cameron Macdonell, Ghost Storeys: Ralph Adams Cram, Modern Gothic Media, and Deconstructive Microhistory at a Canadian Church, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN

1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the north; northern.

   He lived in north Germany.

   1 more example

   She entered through the north gate.

2. not comparableToward the north; northward.

   Napoleon ordered Villeneuve north to France.

   1 more example

   The most dangerous ones are those that develop during October and November and that follow a north path affecting the western part of the island.

   1987, Ana María Brull Vázquez, Rosa E. Casas, Cuba, page 23

3. not comparableclimatologyOf wind, from the north.

   The north wind was cold.

4. not comparablePertaining to the part of a corridor used by northbound traffic.

   north highway 1

   1 more example

   Traffic was doing the speed limit on North I-45 one minute and had come to a stand-still the next.

   2001, Joseph R Miller, Pipe Tobacco and Wool

5. not comparableecclesiasticalDesignating, or situated in, the liturgical north (in a church, the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar).

   2 more examples

   […] the high church had liked its clergy to preside at the Eucharist in an ad orientem position; the low church advocated what was called the north end position; but the Liturgical Movement asked the priest to take a basilical position, facing liturgical west, and now both Anglican factions could agree on this third position without either of them losing face.

   2011, Michael Attridge, Catherine E. Clifford, Gilles Routhier, Vatican II: Expériences canadiennes – Canadian experiences, University of Ottawa Press, →ISBN, page 145

   Throughout the book I refer directionally to the altar and chancel of St. Andrew's as situated at ecclesiastical east (to avoid overcomplicating matters), not geographical or magnetic southeast. Thus, […] The north side faces the river (beyond the subdivision behind the church), and the south side, Ashley River Road. […] At St. Andrew's, ecclesiastical north, south, east, and west correspond to geographical northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest. Unless otherwise indicated, compass directions given in this book are ecclesiastical, not geographical, reference points.

   2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365

6. colloquialnot comparableMore or greater than.

   The wedding ended up costing north of $50,000.

   2 more examples

   The price you're offering had better be north of the highest price this company has ever traded for.

   1993, Barbarians at the Gate, spoken by Charlie Hugel (Tom Aldredge)

   Some of the windscreens we replace cost north of $1800[.]

   2021 December 28, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 57, column 2

comparative further north · comparative farther north · superlative furthest north · superlative farthest north

1. Toward the north; northward; northerly.

   We headed north.

   1 more example

   Switzerland is north of Italy.

present singular third person norths · participle present northing · participle past northed · past northed

1. intransitiveobsoleteTo turn or move toward the north.

   When at B you had northed 3.71[…]

   1769, Henry Wilson, William Hume, Surveying improved, page 239

1. Any of various particular regions named for the cardinal direction in which they lie.
   1. USThe northern states of the United States.
   2. USThe Union during the American Civil War.

      The North lost most battles early in the war.

   3. UKThe North of England, a cultural region.
   4. IrelandNorthern Ireland.
   5. North Korea.
   6. The northern part of any of various other countries or regions.

      In 1903, I had adventured, for the first time, northwards, and it really was the North, as my objective was the Great North of Scotland Railway.

      1957 July 28, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 459

   7. economicsA group of countries mainly lying north of the equator, including most of the West and the First World and much of the Second World.

      In economic terms, the North controls four-fifths of the income earned anywhere in the world.

      Synonyms: Global North

plural Norths

1. countableuncountableA surname.
2. countableuncountableA civil parish in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada, named for its location.
3. countableuncountableA town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States, named after John North.
4. countableuncountableA number of townships in the United States, including in Indiana (2), Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio, listed under North Township; most are named named for their location.