south

Etymology

From Middle English south, from Old English sūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *sunþr, from Proto-Germanic *sunþrą. Compare West Frisian súd, Dutch zuid, German Süd, Danish syd.

noun

1. One of the four principal compass points, specifically 180° (being directed towards the South Pole); conventionally downwards on a map.
   Alternative form: (abbreviation) S
2. The southern region or area; the inhabitants thereof.
   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, 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, page 131
   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, page 322
3. (ecclesiastical) In a church: the direction to the right-hand side of a person facing the altar.
   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, page 49
   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.
   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, 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, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, page 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
4. (figurative) down or the negative direction
   His fortunes have been going south ever since he was tricked into investing in that ostrich farm.
5. (physics) The negative or south pole of a magnet

adj

1. Toward the south; southward.
2. (meteorology, of wind) from the south.
3. Of or pertaining to the south; southern.
4. Pertaining to the part of a corridor used by southbound traffic.
   south highway 1
5. (ecclesiastical) Designating, or situated in, the liturgical south.
   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, page 365

adv

1. Toward the south; southward.
2. Downward.
3. In an adverse direction or trend (go south).
4. (meteorology) Of wind, from the south.

verb

1. To turn or move toward the south; to veer toward the south.
2. (astronomy) To come to the meridian; to cross the north and south line.
   The moon souths at nine.