south

plural souths

1. countableuncountableThe direction towards the pole to the right-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 180°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the southern side of the invariable plane.

   Germany is south of Denmark.

2. countableuncountableThe southern region or area; the inhabitants thereof.First known use circa 1300

   When Nimeiri ended that autonomy in 1983, the south took up arms. This Second Sudanese Civil War ended only after four years of formal talks […]

   2019, Allan Thompson, Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN, page 322

   2 more examples

   Just before independence (in 1955) the military garrison in the south rebelled and that was the beginning of a civil war between the north and the south ...

   1996, Andrew W. Conrad, Alma Rubal-Lopez, Post-Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940-1990, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 343

   What was said [prior to 2003] is that the south rebelled. Even then; rebelled? What rebelled? Who was supporting Saddam other than the people of the south?

   2014, Fanar Haddad, Sectarianism in Iraq: Antagonistic Visions of Unity, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 131

3. countableuncountableecclesiasticalIn a church: the direction to the right-hand side of a person facing the altar.

   It is to be situated in the chancel on the right (i.e., liturgical south) side of the church.

   2002, John L. Hooker, In the Shadows of Holy Week: The Office of Tenebrae, Church Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

   4 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

   It was moved from its original location in 1507 hardly a decade after it was completed, to the bottom of the liturgical south aisle along with the free-standing chapel of the relic of the lance.

   2009, Carol Mary Richardson, Reclaiming Rome: Cardinals in the Fifteenth Century, BRILL, →ISBN, page 389

   […] 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. […] The pulpit and reading desk are at ecclesiastical northeast, and the organ pipes and 1706 memorial at ecclesiastical south. 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 April 11, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706–2013, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, →ISBN, pages 364–365

   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

4. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe negative or south pole of a magnet.

1. not comparableToward the south; southward.
2. not comparableclimatologyfrom the south.
3. not comparableOf or pertaining to the south; southern.
4. not comparablePertaining to the part of a corridor used by southbound traffic.

   south highway 1

5. not comparableecclesiasticalDesignating, or situated in, the liturgical south.

   1 more example

   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.

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

comparative further south · comparative farther south · superlative furthest south · superlative farthest south

1. Toward the south; southward.

   When folks from Nags Head want to get away from it all, they head south—and so did I, across the bridge over Oregon Inlet to reach Hatteras Island.

   1987 October, Charles E. Cobb, Jr., “North Carolina's Outer Banks”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 496

2. Downward.
3. figurativelyIn an adverse direction or trend.

   His fortunes have been going south ever since he was tricked into investing in that ostrich farm.

   Synonyms: sideways

4. climatologyOf wind, from the south.

present singular third person souths · participle present southing · participle past southed · past southed

1. intransitiveTo turn or move toward the south; to veer toward the south.
2. intransitiveastronomyTo come to the meridian; to cross the north and south line.

   The moon souths at nine.

plural Souths

1. Any of various particular regions named for the cardinal direction in which they lie.
   1. UScountableuncountableThe Southern United States.

      Meronyms: Upper South, Deep South, Old South, Southeast

      5 more examples

      Holonyms: United States, United States of America, U.S., US, USA < North America < Earth < Solar System < Orion Arm < Milky Way < Local Group < Virgo Supercluster < Laniakea < Universe

      Many sincere white people in the South privately oppose segregation and discrimination, but they are apprehensive lest they be publicly condemned.

      1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “Transformed Nonconformist”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC, page 13

      Just when the blacks had had their hopes for equality and justice raised, after centuries of misery and despair, they awoke one morning to discover that their future was in the hands of a President born in the South.

      1971, Lyndon B. Johnson, “"I feel like I have already been here a year"”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 18

      Of course, living in the South was never an option—the main problem being they have too much respect for authority; they're soldier-sniffers and cop lovers. I don't respect that, and I could never live with it. There's also way too much religion in the South to be consistent with good mental health.

      1997, George Carlin, “WELL, YA GOTTA LIVE SOMEPLACE”, in Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 16

      In the discussions we had sitting around church basements, I learned that, despite the obvious differences in our environments, these kids were more like me than I ever could have imagined. They also knew more about what was happening in the civil rights movement in the South. I had only vaguely heard of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, but these discussions sparked my interest.

      2003, Hillary Rodham Clinton, “University of Life”, in Living History, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 22–23

      Synonyms: American South, Southland, Dixie, Dixieland

   2. countableuncountableSouthern England.

      Holonyms: England < Great Britain, Britain < United Kingdom, UK < Earth, World < Solar System < Orion Arm < Milky Way < Local Group < Virgo Supercluster < Laniakea < Universe

   3. IndiacountableuncountableThe southern states of India.

      Synonyms: South India

   4. countableuncountableThe Global South.
   5. UKcountableuncountableAntarctica.

      Over three weeks in 2019, Kaefer spent time at three English-speaking Antarctic stations observing and gathering data from workers based on what the US station refers to as “The Ice”, or the British call the “South”.

      2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian

2. countableuncountableA surname.
3. abbreviationcountableellipsisinformaluncountableDurham UniversityEllipsis of South College, Durham.