southerly

[suhth -er-lee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR southerly ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, adverb

toward the south: a southerly course.

(especially of a wind) coming from the south: a gentle southerly breeze.

noun, plural south·er·lies.

a wind that blows from the south.

RELATED WORDS

austral, meridional, midi

Nearby words

Origin of southerly

1545–55; south + -erly (see easterly)

Related formssouth·er·li·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for southerly

While we were at breakfast a southerly squall burst open the kitchen door.
A Poor Man's House|Stephen Sydney Reynolds
The southerly winds are warm at all seasons if blowing hard, but very cold if blowing lightly in winter.
Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory|Lucien Turner
Starting from the mills at Livermore, a logging-road is followed nearly two miles on the southerly side of Sawyers River.
The Heart of the White Mountains, Their Legend and Scenery|Samuel Adams Drake
At first he struck across the waterways in a southerly direction and for awhile Jan and the others were able to keep him in sight.
The Laughing Cavalier|Baroness Orczy

By taking a southerly route, and going up the Gulf of Tarentum, this distance might be traversed wholly by sea.
Pyrrhus|Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for southerly

southerly

adjective

of, relating to, or situated in the south

adverb, adjective

towards or in the direction of the south

from the southa southerly wind

noun plural -lies

a wind from the south

Derived Formssoutherliness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for southerly

southerly

1550s (adj.); 1570s (adv.); from southern + -ly. Related: Southerliness.