lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the south.
coming from the south, as a wind.
of or relating to the south.
Southern, of or relating to the South of the United States.
Astronomy. Southern, being or located south of the celestial equator or of the zodiac.
a southern constellation.
Often Southern southerner.
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.
situated in or towards the south
(of a wind, etc) coming from the south
native to, inhabiting, or growing in the south
(sometimes capital) astronomy south of the celestial equator
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sūtherne; see south, -ern
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The statement further claimed that Singh had entered the country through the southern border in 2022 and was an undocumented immigrant from India.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The U.S. has cleared shipping lanes off the southern Hormuz coast of Oman to help commercial vessels move in and out of the Gulf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
He became a millionaire in the process and his legacy in southern Africa has become a lightning rod for discussions about "decolonising" institutions which continue to bear his name.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported a strike on the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
In February 1832, still “squeamish and uncomfortable,” Darwin crossed over to the southern hemisphere.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
In Southern California, cliffs could erode more than 130 feet by the end of the century, and the consequences of erosion have already proved to be severe on major roads, railways and other critical infrastructure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Scattered through old Southern community and church cookbooks are recipes for spiced Saltines: butter-soaked, herb-flecked, oven-baked until they darken to a toastier shade of gold.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
One of the great engines of that wider overturning lies far from the North Atlantic, in the Southern Ocean.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The company said it is now building 1,200 drones a week at its facility in Southern California—and says it has a plan to reach one million drones a year by 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Tomorrow Berlin wouldn’t be able to help because she’d be in a full-day intensive with a visiting Elder who was fluent in Southern Michif and Plains Cree, who had only enough English to get by.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
