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• southern
  southern

  adjective

  lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the south.
• Southern
  Southern

  noun

  Terry, 1924–95, U.S. novelist and screenwriter.

southern

¹ American  

[suhth-ern] / ˈsʌð ərn /

adjective

1. lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the south.

2. coming from the south, as a wind.

3. of or relating to the south.

4. Southern, of or relating to the South of the United States.

5. Astronomy. Southern, being or located south of the celestial equator or of the zodiac.

   a southern constellation.

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noun

1. Often Southern southerner.

2. Southern, the dialect of English spoken in the eastern parts of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, in Florida, in the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and in southeastern Texas.

Southern ² American  

[suhth-ern] / ˈsʌð ərn /

noun

1. Terry, 1924–95, U.S. novelist and screenwriter.

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southern ¹ British  

/ ˈsʌðən /

adjective

1. situated in or towards the south

2. (of a wind, etc) coming from the south

3. native to, inhabiting, or growing in the south

4. (sometimes capital) astronomy south of the celestial equator

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Southern ² British  

/ ˈsʌðən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the south of a particular region or country

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Etymology

Origin of southern

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sūtherne; see south, -ern

Explanation

Southern means from the south, like a southern breeze. But if you call a group of people “y’all,” you might be Southern, a word which refers to the American South and usually gets a capital “S” — and a side of hush puppies. A southern breeze happens when wind is moving from the south to the north, and the Southern Hemisphere is south of the equator. When southern refers to the direction, it’s not capitalized; when it's used in the name of specific place, however, it is capitalized. Southern comes from south, which derives from a Germanic word meaning "sun-side."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southern Southern

Jair’s brother Renato won a congressional seat in São Paulo, while his son Carlos won a Senate seat in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed the ship's last port of call appeared to have been Izmail, in southern Ukraine, which it left on September 18 fully laden.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

It is possible that heavier downpours with thunder and lightning could affect southern and south-eastern England on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

An international team modeled roughly 1,000 years of earthquake activity along the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems to estimate the amount of stress currently concentrated around Cajon Pass.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Aaron Burr left his home on Richmond Hill near the southern end of Manhattan at first light on Wednesday, July 11, 1804.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

It’s operated by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, made up of members from transit authorities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

After the Southern Bridge was attacked on Thursday, passengers described how dust from a blast wave entered their carriage through the ventilation system.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, nearly half of the undergraduates are members of 28 fraternities or sororities—including three the school added this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

Two of the most important fault systems in Southern California are the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

The Southern slaveholding colonies would agree to form a union only on the condition that the federal government would not be able to interfere with the right to own slaves.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander