north
English
Etymology
From Middle English north, from Old English norþ, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, ultimately, these may derive from either: (a) Proto-Indo-European *h₁ner- (“inner, under”), from *h₁en (“in”); (b) alternatively from a Proto-Indo-European *ner- (“left, below”), as north is to the left when one faces the rising sun.
Cognate with various Germanic counterparts such as Dutch noord, West Frisian noard, German Nord, Danish and Norwegian nord; also with Greek νέρτερος (nérteros, “infernal, lower”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /nɔːθ/
- (General American) enPR: nôrth, IPA(key): /noɹθ/, [no̞ɹθ]
- (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /noːθ/
- (without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /nɔː(ɹ)θ/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)θ
Noun
north (countable and uncountable, plural norths)
- The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.
- Alternative form: (abbreviation) N
- Minnesota is in the north of the USA.
- The up or positive direction.
- Stock prices are heading back towards the north.
- (physics) The positive or north pole of a magnet, which seeks the magnetic pole near Earth's geographic North Pole (which, for its magnetic properties, is a south pole).
- Alternative letter-case form of North (“a northern region; the inhabitants thereof”). [circa 1300]
- 2002, Mats Lundahl, Politics or Markets?: Essays on Haitian Underdevelopment, Routledge, →ISBN:
- […] and after independence the north clung to sugar production longer than the south, with the result that when the north took […]
- (ecclesiastical) In a church: the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar.
- 1998, Leonel L. Mitchell, Pastoral and Occasional Liturgies: A Ceremonial Guide, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 49:
- If candidates stand on the liturgical south facing the presider and liturgical assistants on the liturgical north, it will present better visual lines for the congregation than if they stand facing east and west with their backs toward the congregation.
- 2011, Paul Turner, At the Supper of the Lamb: A Pastoral and Theological Commentary on the Mass, LiturgyTrainingPublications, →ISBN, page 27:
- Many early Christian basilicas were designed with twin ambos for the proclamation of the epistle (on the liturgical south side) and the Gospel (on the north). The separation of the ambos indicated the distinction that should be accorded the Gospel, which was proclaimed from the north as if evangelization needed to happen to the geographically southern part of the world.
- 2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365:
- At St. Andrew's, ecclesiastical north, south, east, and west correspond to geographical northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest.
- 2017, Cameron Macdonell, Ghost Storeys: Ralph Adams Cram, Modern Gothic Media, and Deconstructive Microhistory at a Canadian Church, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN:
- The new St Mary's Anglican Church, Walkerville, has an attached rectory flanking to the liturgical south and an attached parish hall flanking to the liturgical north, both half-timbered in the Tudor Revival style. [Referring to a church that is oriented SSE, making "south" WSW]
Antonyms
Coordinate terms
northwest | north | northeast |
west | east | |
southwest | south | southeast |
Derived terms
- east by north
- east-north-east
- Far North
- global north
- gone north about
- grid north
- it's grim up north
- king of the north
- magnetic north
- Mid North
- north Africa
- north Andean deer
- north and south
- northbound
- north by east
- north by northeast
- north by northwest
- north by west
- north-caper
- north country
- north countryman
- northeast
- north-east
- northeast by north
- north-easterly
- north-eastern
- northerly
- northern
- northerner
- north geographical pole
- northing
- north magnetic pole
- north-north-east
- north northeast
- north-northeast
- north-northeasterly
- north-northeastern
- north-northeastward
- north-northeastwards
- north northwest
- north-north-west
- north-northwest
- north-northwesterly
- north-northwestern
- north-northwestward
- north-northwestwards
- north of
- north of 60
- north of sixty
- north of the border
- north of Watford
- North Palmyra
- northpaw
- north-seeking pole
- north side
- north star
- north temperate zone
- northward
- northwardly
- northwards
- northwest
- northwest by north
- northwesterly
- north-westerly
- north-western
- north wind
- North Woodbury
- true north
- up north
- west by north
- west-north-west
Related terms
Translations
- Also see Appendix:Cardinal directions for translations of all compass points
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Adjective
north (not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to the north; northern.
- He lived in north Germany.
- She entered through the north gate.
- Toward the north; northward.
- 1987, Ana María Brull Vázquez, Rosa E. Casas, Cuba, page 23:
- The most dangerous ones are those that develop during October and November and that follow a north path affecting the western part of the island.
- (meteorology) Of wind, from the north.
- The north wind was cold.
- Pertaining to the part of a corridor used by northbound traffic.
- north highway 1
- 2001, Joseph R Miller, Pipe Tobacco and Wool:
- Traffic was doing the speed limit on North I-45 one minute and had come to a stand-still the next.
- (ecclesiastical) Designating, or situated in, the liturgical north (in a church, the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar).
- 2011, Michael Attridge, Catherine E. Clifford, Gilles Routhier, Vatican II: Expériences canadiennes – Canadian experiences, University of Ottawa Press, →ISBN, page 145:
- […] the high church had liked its clergy to preside at the Eucharist in an ad orientem position; the low church advocated what was called the north end position; but the Liturgical Movement asked the priest to take a basilical position, facing liturgical west, and now both Anglican factions could agree on this third position without either of them losing face.
- 2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365:
- Throughout the book I refer directionally to the altar and chancel of St. Andrew's as situated at ecclesiastical east (to avoid overcomplicating matters), not geographical or magnetic southeast. Thus, […] The north side faces the river (beyond the subdivision behind the church), and the south side, Ashley River Road. […] At St. Andrew's, ecclesiastical north, south, east, and west correspond to geographical northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest. Unless otherwise indicated, compass directions given in this book are ecclesiastical, not geographical, reference points.
- (colloquial) More or greater than.
- The wedding ended up costing north of $50,000.
- 1993, Barbarians at the Gate, spoken by Charlie Hugel (Tom Aldredge):
- The price you're offering had better be north of the highest price this company has ever traded for.
- 2021 December, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 57, column 2:
- Some of the windscreens we replace cost north of $1800[.]
Synonyms
- (of the north): boreal, septentrional
Antonyms
Derived terms
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Camp Pendleton North
- Great North Road
- Havelock North
- Khartoum North
- Mandeville North
- Matabeleland North
- Mid North Coast
- Norbury
- Norfolk
- Norrington
- North Acton
- North Adams
- North Africa
- North America
- Northampton
- North Aston
- North Attleborough
- North Ayrshire
- North Ballachulish
- North Barrow
- North Bay
- North Bend
- North Bergen
- North Berwick
- North Blyth
- North Branch
- North Burnett
- North Cadbury
- North Camp
- North Cape
- North Carolina
- North Carolinaese
- North Carolina pine
- North Cave
- North Charleston
- North Cheam
- North Chicago
- North Chungcheong
- Northchurch
- North Claines
- North Coast
- North Cockerington
- North Col
- North Connel
- Northcott
- North Coventry
- North Cowichan
- North Curry
- North Dakota
- North Devon
- North Dorset
- North Downs
- North Dumfries
- North Dundas
- North East Derbyshire
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Elmham
- North Elmsall
- North End
- North Esk
- Northey
- North Fambridge
- North Fayette
- North Ferriby
- north forty
- North Fremantle
- North Glengarry
- North Greenwich
- North Gyeongsang
- North Hamgyeong
- North Hamgyong
- North Harrow
- North Haverhill
- North Hayling
- North Hempstead
- North Hero
- North Hertfordshire
- North Hill
- North Hills
- North Hinksey
- North Hudson
- North Hudson
- North Huish
- North Huron
- North Hykeham
- North Island
- North Jeolla
- North Kellyville
- North Kensington
- North Kesteven
- North Korea
- North Lanarkshire
- northland, Northland
- North Lauderdale
- North Leith
- North Leverton with Habblesthorpe
- North Lincolnshire
- North Little Rock
- North Luffenham
- North Macedonia
- North Melbourne
- North Meols
- North Miami
- North Miami Beach
- North Middlesex
- North Molton
- North Molton
- North Muskham
- North Mymms
- North Newnton
- North Norfolk
- North Northamptonshire
- North Olmsted
- Northolt
- Northorpe
- North Palmyra
- North Petherton
- North Philadelphia
- North Pingan
- North Platte
- North Poorton
- North Port
- North Pyeongan
- North Pyongan
- North Pyungan
- North Queensferry
- North Richland Hills
- North Rode
- North Royalton
- North Sea
- North Seaton
- North Sheen
- North Shields
- North Shore
- North Slope Borough
- North Somerset
- North Stoneham
- North Sunderland
- North Sydney
- North Tawton
- North Thoresby
- North Tonawanda
- North Turton
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland, Northumbria
- North Vancouver
- North Vernon
- North Walbottle
- North Walsham
- North Warnborough
- North Warwickshire
- North Weald, North Weald Bassett
- North Wembley
- Northwich
- North Wingfield
- North Woodbury
- Northwood, Norwood
- North Woods
- North Woolwich
- North Wraxall
- North York
- North Yorkshire
- Norton
- Norwich
- Palmerston North
- Solid North
- Trinity Bay North
- Waimate North
- Wellington North
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Adverb
north (not comparable)
Antonyms
Translations
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Verb
north (third-person singular simple present norths, present participle northing, simple past and past participle northed)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To turn or move toward the north.
- 1769, Henry Wilson, William Hume, Surveying improved, page 239:
- When at B you had northed 3.71 […]
Anagrams
Cornish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Noun
north m
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
- north-est (“north-east”)
- north-west (“north-west”)
- Penn-Aghel an North (“North Pole”)
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English norþ
Pronunciation
Noun
north
- north, northernness
- A location to the north; the north
- The north wind
Coordinate terms
Related terms
Descendants
References
- “north, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 29-03-2018.
Adjective
north
Descendants
References
- “north, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 29-03-2018.
Adverb
north
- To the north, northwards
- From the north
- In the north
Descendants
References
- “north, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 29-03-2018.
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)θ
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)θ/1 syllable
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