northern

American  

[nawr-thern] / ˈnɔr ðərn /

adjective

1. lying toward or situated in the north.

2. directed or proceeding northward.

3. coming from the north, as a wind.

4. Often Northern of or relating to the North, especially the northern United States.

5. Astronomy. north of the celestial equator or of the zodiac.

   a northern constellation.

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noun

1. a person living in a northern region or country.

2. Northern, a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, eight driving wheels, and a four-wheeled rear truck.

northern British  

/ ˈnɔːðən /

adjective

1. situated in or towards the north

   northern towns

2. directed or proceeding towards the north

   a northern flow of traffic

3. (esp of winds) proceeding from the north

4. (sometimes capital) of, relating to, or characteristic of the north or North

5. (sometimes capital) astronomy north of the celestial equator

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pro-Northern
  adjective
• northernness
  noun
• unnorthern
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of northern

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

Example Sentences

She has decried revelations of the recent participation of CIA officials in a raid on a drug lab in northern Chihuahua state, saying it was a breach of sovereignty.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

"My mother died," he said, adding that his father and two siblings remain in Senegal, while an older brother lives in northern Spain.

From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026

It was a particularly rapid movement up the Iron Pipeline, the name for the trafficking channel from southern states with lax gun laws to northern states with stricter ones.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

De la Espriella comes from cattle country in northern Cordoba province, growing up in an affluent family in the city of Montería about an hour’s drive from the country’s northwest Caribbean coast.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

But she told them about the secret northern pass through the mountains, and the detour Hecate described that could take them to Epirus.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan