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; 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

The American Farm Bureau Federation says only 19% of farmers in the southern states—ranging from Virginia to Texas—prebooked their fertilizer needs ahead of this planting season, versus 67% in the Midwestern region.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Iraq can send some of its northern crude through a pipeline to Turkey, but most of the country’s oil production comes from its southern fields, which have no inland connection to the pipeline.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, founded Evergrande in 1996 in China’s southern province of Guangdong.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Then last summer, McFarland drove from his home in the northern state of Michigan to the US Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper in the southern state of Virginia.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

Born in a tiny village in southern Russia in 1894, Nikita Khrushchev grew up with his parents and sister in a wooden hut.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin