| 释义 |
▪ I. south, adv., prep., n., and a.|saʊθ|
Forms: 1, 3 suð, suþ, 3 suþe, 4–5 suthe, 4, 6 suth (6 Sc. sutht); 3 soþ, 4 soth, 6 north. soyth; 3–5 souþ (4 zouþ), 4–5 souþe, 4 sowþe; 3– south (4 souht, 5 Sc. soucht), 4–6 southe (5 Sc. souythe), 5–6 sowth(e.
[Common Teut.: OE. súð, = OFris. sûth (WFris. súd, NFris. süd), OS. sûth (MLG. sût, LG. sud), OHG. sund-, sunt- (MHG. sund), ON. (with r- suffix) suðr (:—*sunþr; cf. the compar. sunnar:—*sunþar): the relationship of the stem is uncertain. One or other of these forms (perh. the ON.) is the source of OF. sur, sud, su (F. sud), Sp. sur, sud, Pg. sul.
MDu. suut (zuut), suyt (Du. zuid) and G. süd are not the native forms (which would have been respectively *zond and *sund), but are due to Fris., LG., or F. influence. In the Scand. languages there is considerable variety in the later forms, as MSw. sudher, södher, Sw. söder, Norw. sør, sud, syd, sunn, synn Da. syd.
In some senses (as B. 2–4) usually with a capital, in others usually with a small letter, but the practice is not uniform.]
A. adv.
1. Towards, or in the direction of, that part of the earth or heavens which is directly opposite to the north. Also with modifying additions, as south by west, etc.
a. With reference to movement, extent, or direction.
c900O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 894, Þa þe suð ymb-utan foron, ymb-sæton Exancester. a1122Ibid. (Laud MS.) an. 1092, Se cyng Willelm..ferde norð to Cardeol,..& syððan hider suð ᵹewænde. c1205Lay. 2133 Locrines mær eode suð & east forð. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 234 So longe huy wenden euene south, þat [etc.]. 1375Barbour Bruce xvi. 265 Syne thai..sowth till Lwnyk held thair way. a1400Morte Arth. 1039 Bot thow moste seke more southe, sydlyngs a lyttille. 1539Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 454 Fra the said croce rycht south to the Mercat-gait. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) I. 27 Mynding to lodge thair all nicht be the get going south. a1700Evelyn Diary 22 Mar. 1652, For more than an hundred yards South. c1743Woodroofe in Hanway Trav. iv. lix. (1762) I. 276 Steering south and south by west. 1816Scott Bl. Dwarf viii, As if the devil was blawing us south. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 147 The inclination is sometimes north, and sometimes south. 1880Ruskin Bible of Amiens i. (1884) 32 Clovis' march south against the Visigoths.
b. With reference to place or location; spec. (U.S.), in or into the southern states. Also † south-by, in the south (Sc.).
down south: see down adv. 30.
Beowulf 858 Moniᵹ oft ᵹecwæð, þætte suð ne norð..oþer næniᵹ..selra nære. c805Charter in O.E. Texts 442 Ᵹif hiora oðrum oððe bæm suð forᵹelimpe. a1000Boeth. Metr. x. 24 Þæt eow suð oððe norð þa ytmestan eorðbuende..miclum herien. c1200Ormin 12125 Þa fowwre daless alle Þatt æst, & Wesst, & Suþ, & Norrþ Þiss middellærd bilukenn. c1310in Wright Lyric P. xviii. 59 Whether y be south other west. c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §17 Tak kep of thise latitudes north and sowth. 1591[see south-eastward adv.]. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 38 His Regiment lies halfe a Mile..South, from the mighty Power of the King. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 401 The Realme Of Congo, and Angola fardest South. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) I. 27 The Erll..wes at this tym south. 1762Bp. Forbes Jrnl. (1886) 216 He asked me how the not-swearing clergy lived now South-by. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Wind, Coming to the latitude of four degrees south. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin i. x. 142 To appreciate the sufferings of the negroes sold south. 1866Treas. Bot. 210/2 The plant..is found..from latitude 40° to 44° south. 1936M. Mitchell Gone with Wind iii. 51 The air was always thick with threats of selling slaves south and of direful whippings. 1976M. G. Eberhart Family Fortune (1977) vii. 77 ‘Suppose Mr Jeff sell me south?’.. ‘He can't sell you... You and all the slaves..were set free.’
c. In the phr. south and north. (See also north adv. 1 c.)
c900tr. Baeda's Hist. i. iii. (1890) 30 Þæt is..twelf mila brad suð & norð. 1596Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 194/1 Be the grund of ane auld dyk lyand south and north. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 315 The second [way runs] South and North, from Michael's utmost Mount, To Cathnesse. 1838Penny Cycl. XI. 439/2 A large island..which..extends about 80 miles south and north.
d. Followed by of.
1707J. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 344 Rum lies 4 Leagues South of Sky. 1771Encycl. Brit. III. 942/1 Williamstat [is]..fourteen miles south of Rotterdam. 1868Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 71 The value of marling south of New Jersey.
2. From the south.
1626Bacon Sylva §626 In a Faire and Dry Day,..And when the Wind bloweth not South. 1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 242 South and by west the threatening demon blew.
3. With a south aspect.
1693Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 30 When we say that a Garden lyes full South, it is when the Sun shines upon it all the day.
4. quasi-n. = B. 1 a. Freq. with from or to. † Also at south, from the south.
c1200Ormin 11258 All þiss middellærd iss ec O fowwre daless dæledd, Onn æst, o Wesst, o Suþ, o Norrþ. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 19 Þe kynges..cleymed him for þer chefe..Of North & of South..Fro Kent vntille Berwik. c1391–c 1425 [see north adv. 2]. c1470Henry Wallace xi. 777 Fra south and north mony off Scotland fled. 1592Soliman & Pers. iii. iv, Monarch and mightie Emperor of the world, From East to West, from South to Septentrion. 1625Carpenter Geogr. Del. i. vi. (1635) 135 The Meridians are drawne directly from North to South. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 273 To South the Persian Bay. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 128 The wind came off shore, for it blew at south. 1748–[see north adv. 2]. 1821–2Shelley Chas. I, ii. 419 The rainbow hung over the city..from north to south. 1842Browning Pied Piper xiii, He turned from South to West, And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed.
†b. by south, in the south; on the south side.
c1205Lay. 30214 Þis iherde Cadwalan, Þe king wes bi suððen. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 236 Þe feorþe dai heo iseiȝen ane yle albi souþe on heiȝ. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 117 Hit is sykerer by southe þer þe sonne regneth. c1420Avow. Arth. xlvii, He sayd, he was knoun and couthe, And was comun fro bi-southe. a1425[see north adv. 2 b]. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 75 England, from Trent, and Seuerne, hitherto By South and East is to my part assign'd. 1600Nashe Summers Last Will 869 Wks. (Grosart) VI. 120 Haruest..by south and south-east, shewe thy selfe like a beast.
c. by south: (see by prep. 9 b).
c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §31 Than it is deuided in smale partiez of Azymutz, as est, and est by sowthe. 14..[see south-east adv. 1]. c1440Promp. Parv. 466/2 Sowthely, or sum what be sowthe, australis. 1682Wheler Journ. Greece vi. 481, I observed Corinth to lie South-East by South off us. a1701Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) Add. 8 With a Course..South East and by South we arrived at Jan-Bolads. 1713,1725[see east D. 3]. 1772–84[see south-east adv. 1]. 1837Fraser's Mag. XL. 666 Cape Trafalgar bore east by south.
5. ellipt. as prep.
a. Southwards along.
1598Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 387/1 Passand south the said balk to the laitch or strype.
b. At, in, or to the south of.
Cf. a-south prep., in Henry Wallace x. 529.
1607Shakes. Cor. i. x. 31 Tis South the City Mils. 1611― Cymb. ii. iv. 81 The Chimney Is South the Chamber. 1787Burns Winter Nt. i, When Phœbus gies a short-liv'd glow'r Far south the lift. 1891Kipling Light that Failed xi. (1900) 185 In the gray wilderness of South-the-water.
B. n. (Usually with the.)
1. a. That one of the four cardinal points which is opposite to the north.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 345 Abouten eiȝte hondret mile Engelond long is Fram þe South into þe North. a1325Prose Psalter lxxvii. 30 He bare ouer þe wynde of þe souþe fram þe heuen. 1390Gower Conf. III. 30 As the wyndes of the South Ben most of alle debonaire. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 221 Tho whyche dwellyth towarde the Sowthe..as thay of Ethiopy. c1440Alph. Tales 62, iij wyndows, ane at þe suthe, a noder at þe este, & þe iij at þe weste. 1577B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. §120 Therfore your stable must stand toward the south. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 244 Another brook from the South runneth into him. 1726–46Thomson Winter 989 The winds at eve..Blow, hollow-blustering from the south. 1837P. Keith Bot. Lex. 277 The whole mass of ears nodding, as if with one consent, to the south. 1875Gladstone Glean. (1879) VI. 149 If standing at the north end of the holy Table, he faces towards the south.
b. Followed by of.
1382Wyclif Ezek. xlvii. 1 To the south of the auter. 1778Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) II. 1222/1 A town..to the south of mount Atlas. 1834Picture L'pool 83 To the south of George's Pierhead.
2. The southern part of a country or region; spec.
a. of England (below the Wash), Great Britain, Scotland, or Ireland (in mod. use beyond the border of Northern Ireland); the south country.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 172 Fram þe souþ tilþ to þe norþ erninge stret. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2382 Þe Duk of Cornewaille Al þe souþ tyl hym gan taylle. c1400Brut xxii. (1906) 26 Anoþere [way] fram þe North into þe South, þat was callede Ikenyle strete. 1543Richmond Wills (Surtees) 50 My Lord Daykar of the soyth. 1631Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 436 Baron Dacres of the South. 1691Ray N. Co. Words s.v. Goulans, In the South we usually call marygolds simply golds. 1707Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 307 From the Mull of Galloway in the South to Dungsbay Head..in the North. 1837Lockhart Scott lii. (1845) 451/2 Letters..which Scott at this time addressed to his friends in the South. 1886T. L. Kington-Oliphant New English I. 222 This is still used as a Positive in Scotland, though we of the South can say only ‘most likely’. 1913R. Kipling Let. Dec. in Ld. Birkenhead Rudyard Kipling (1978) xvi. 257 Which is the most [sic] dangerous enemy? The South playing a game it has not got its heart in, or the North in a blind rage? 1974D. Seaman Bomb that could Lip-Read vii. 60 The whole attitude of the South baffled and angered him. Irish politics were beyond him. 1978D. Murphy Place Apart ii. 33 In Northern Ireland one has a wide choice of names for the rest of the island: the Twenty-six Counties, the Free State, Southern Ireland, the South, Eire and the Republic of Ireland.
b. The southern lands of Europe, etc.
Freq. in and after Biblical use with reference to southern Palestine.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. met. vi. (1868) 55 Þat is to seyne, alle þe poeples in þe souþe. 1382Wyclif Joshua xii. 8 In the south was Ethee, and Ammorree. 1535Coverdale Gen. xiii. 1 So Abram departed out of Egipte..towarde y⊇ south. 1667Milton P.L. i. 354 When her barbarous Sons Came like a Deluge on the South. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam x. iv, In the scorched pastures of the South. 1890Doyle White Company xxiii, Here rode dark-browed cavaliers from the sunny south.
Comb.1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunters xix. 131 The scenes through which we were passing, here soft and south⁓like, there wild, barren.
c. The southern states of America (cf. north n. 2 c). orig. U.S.
1779Storer in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 268 A ship..brings advice that Clinton is not going to the South as he first intended. 1857A. Gray First Lessons Bot. (1866) 19 Behind it is a Yucca (called Spanish Bayonet at the South). 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 120 Certain features of the landscape in the South and West.
3. The southern part of a particular country, etc.; as South of England, also (freq. with hyphens) attrib.; South of France, spec. the French Riviera; also attrib.
1382Wyclif 2 Sam. xxiv. 7 Thei camen into the sowth of Juda. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 185 The Prynces of the Southe of Irland. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 320 From Atropatia..and the South Of Susiana to Balsara's hav'n. 1741M. W. Montagu Let. 29 July (1966) II. 245 They are gone to Marseilles and design passing some months in the South of France. 1773G. White Selborne liii, A species of them is familiar to horsemen in the south of England. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 350 Rue is..a native of the South of Europe. 1815E. Fremantle Diary 8 Sept. in Wynne Diaries (1952) xxxi. 533 We determined to take the former Road, particularly as the South of France is not quite quiet. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre III. iv. 106 A large, fashionable, south-of-England city. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 152 The chalk of the South of England. 1872C. M. Yonge P's & Q's ii. 10 At the time of her death, Elspeth and Persis had been in the South of France. 1922M. Arlen Piracy iii. v. 183 We are going to the south of France to-morrow. 1922E. Sitwell in New Age 6 July 120/1, I liked..the warm, South-of-France feeling about her, and her faded hair that was like dry, powdery mimosa. 1940‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 42 Dickens..is a south-of-England man, and a cockney at that. 1971J. Brunner Honky in Woodpile ii. 14 I'll start on the Sunday papers and catch their South of England editions. 1980I. Murdoch Nuns & Soldiers i. 83 Soho in summer was his South of France.
4. transf. The inhabitants of a southern region or district.
c1300Havelok 434 Waried wrthe he of norþ and suth. 1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xxvii. 10 In whom felle thou on to dai? Dauid answerde, Aȝens the south of Jude, and aȝens the south of Yranyel. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 20 Nurice, from nutrix, quhilk the south calles nurse. 1748Gray Alliance 52 The prostrate South to the Destroyer yields. 1837W. E. Channing Annex. Texas Wks. (1884) 541/2 Strange, that the South should think of securing its ‘peculiar institutions’ by violent means. 1861Ld. R. Montagu Mirr. Amer. 91 Between the North and South there will be feelings of implacable hatred.
5. a. The south wind. Chiefly poet.
a1340Hampole Psalter cxxv. 5 Þe south blawand, frosyn strandis lesis and rennys. 1382Wyclif Luke xii. 55 Whanne ȝe seen the south blowynge, ȝe seyen, For heete schal be. 1587D. Fenner Song of Songs iv. 16 Wake North, and com O South, and on my garden blowe. 1697Dryden æneid i. 756 The South, with mighty roar, Dispers'd and dash'd the rest upon the rocky shore. 1757W. Wilkie Epigoniad iii. 69 When the north and stormy south engage. 1819Byron Juan ii. clxviii, Breathing all gently.., As o'er a bed of roses the sweet south. 1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxvi. 2 'Tis not showery south, nor airy wester.
b. A south wind; esp. one of the southern gales which occur in the West Indies.
1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 60 In the West Indies there are three sorts [of storms], viz. Norths, Souths, and Hurricanes. 1707Sloane Jamaica I. p. lix, Its being liable to be wash'd off by the violent sea-breezes or Souths. 1841Clough Poems (1892) 18 My wind is turned to bitter north, That was so soft a south before.
6. Bridge. The player sitting opposite and partnering north: occas. in conventional printed representations of the game, the player who wins the bidding and plays the hand.
1926[see east n. 4]. 1933C. Vandyck Contract Contracted iii. 31 South deals and bids 1 Diamond. North seeing the possibilities of a Slam gives a Slam Invitation by bidding 5 Spades. 1958Listener 2 Oct. 541/1 One would expect South to pass. 1964Frey & Truscott Official Encycl. Bridge 514/2 In bridge writing for general reading, South is, conventionally, the declarer... However, in reporting International Matches, the actual positions at the table are used. 1978Country Life 14 Dec. 2098/2 Most Souths without further thought would bid Three No Trumps.
7. A collective name for the industrially and economically less advanced countries of the world, typically situated to the south of the industrialized nations.
1975Economist 18 Oct. 103/2 North-south dialogue... This week's preliminary get-together [between] the west and the oil and non-oil developing nations..illuminated the snake pit ahead. 1977N.Y. Times 22 Sept. 43 Today, any regional struggle over who is to become managing director of the I.M.F. is far less likely to be one between the United States and Western Europe as between the ‘North’ and the ‘South’—that is, the developed, industrial countries and the so-called developing countries, some oil-rich and others oil-poor; some well on the way to industrialization, and others desperately poor. 1978New Internationalist May 6/1 Present patterns of technology transfers from North to South vindicate Bertrand Russell's view..that ‘I am compelled to fear that science will be used to promote the power of dominant groups rather than to make men happy.’ 1979Newsweek 19 Nov. 144 The turbulent years of the 1970s have witnessed an uneasy confrontation between the North and the South, and a largely unresolved debate on a whole series of specific economic problems.
C. adj. (In early use the stem in combination.)
1. With proper names:
a. Denoting the southern division of a race, nation, or people.
c900tr. Baeda's Hist. (1890) 4 Fela he me sæde ymbe Suðseaxe & embe Westseaxe. c1100O.E. Chron. (MS.C.) an. 1052, He ᵹespeon him to..þæne East-ende, & Suð-Sexan, & Suðriᵹan. c1205Lay. 7449 Guærtaæt þe mode mid þon Suð Walscen. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 153 In þe fiȝting of þe Souþ Saxons aȝenst Cedwalla. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 118/2 The countrie of the Southmercies,..separated from the Northmercies by the riuer Trent. 1643R. Baker Chron. (1653) 7 The second Kingdome of the Heptarchy, was of the South Saxons. 1862Borrow Wales lxvii, The old chap who disliked South Welshmen. Ibid., The enemy of the South Welsh.
b. Denoting the southern part of a country, land, town, district, ocean, etc., or the more southerly of two places having the same name. South Kensington (colloq. South Ken), a district of London noted esp. for the museums and other cultural and scientific institutions located there; also ellipt., any of these institutions. South-Spain attrib., designating or pertaining to a South Spainer (see sense 1 c below).
962in Birch Cartul. Saxon. III. 325 æt Suðhamtune. c1100O.E. Chron. (MS. D) an. 1023, [They] feredon on scype his þone halᵹan lichaman..to Suðᵹeweorke. c1205Lay. 29925 Of Suð Wales [was] Margadud, monen alre uæȝerest. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4355 Of South Walys com kyng Ignarcet. c1425Eng. Conq. Ireland 6 He went hym thennes in-to south walys. 1577Eden & Willes Hist. Trav. 230 b, Betwyxt the West Indie or South America, and the South continent. 1600Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 168 What time they were lordes of Granada in south Spaine. 1718[see britain n.1 1]. 1776Adam Smith W.N. v. i. iii. (1904) II. 370 From the port of Sallee, in South Barbary, to Cape Rouge. 1816Scott Bl. Dwarf i, What news from the south hielands? 1835Penny Cycl. III. 25/2 The South Atlantic Ocean does not offer any other peculiarity in its formation, but the Northern is distinguished by several. 1845Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 600 (heading) South London. 1862A. J. Munby Diary 18 Jan. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 114, I walked past the South Kensington Museum and along the Cromwell Road. 1866Treas. Bot. 211/1 Camptosema rubicundum [is] a native of South Brazil. Ibid. 1044/2 Natives of South Africa. 1882Girl's Own Paper 1 Apr. 432/2 We advise your going direct to the British Museum or South Kensington, and make a study of one gallery after another. 1885A. Edwardes Girton Girl I. iii. 59 There was no South Kensington, and we never called ourselves art students. 1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 119/1 When the ‘Challenger’ was cruising in the South Pacific..the water was found to be uniformly warmer than the air. 1924J. Buchan Three Hostages iii. 50 He was M.P. for a South London division. 1924W. Runciman Before Mast iii. ii. 78 A visit was paid to a very fine South Spain barque. Ibid., As it was a Friday we had presented to us a real South Spain meal, pea soup and pork. 1933M. Allingham Sweet Danger xiv. 172 If we get away with this we might start on the South Ken. There's a large-size model of a flea there I've always had my eye on. 1933J. Masefield Bird of Dawning 98 All South-Spain ships pass where we pass, going or coming. 1944W. Temple Church looks Forward ii. 17 That, broadly speaking, is the aim of the South India Scheme. 1946Whitaker's Almanack 1947 783/2 South Georgia is permanently inhabited and is an important seat of the whaling industry. 1948Times 11 May 3/3 The Communists continued with their campaign to keep the population of South Korea from voting in today's elections. 1949O. Hammerstein (title of musical) South Pacific. 1950Times 28 Apr. 5/4 The Federal Government has decided to send a mission..to the island of Amboyna, where the revolt which resulted in the proclamation yesterday of the ‘independent Republic of the South Moluccas’ originated. 1954Times 21 July 6/1 There will probably be two other enclaves for Viet-minh troops now in the south Viet Nam. 1965M. Allingham Mind Readers i. 22 Her drawl, which Peggie had known when it was pure South London, was now very Mayfair. 1966Times 22 Jan. 7/1 Both the Yemen Government and the Arab League have welcomed the N.L.F.–O.L.O.S. merger into the new anti-British militant ‘Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen’ (F.L.O.S.Y.). 1972F. MacCarthy All Things Bright & Beautiful ii. 44 Lethaby..retired from the Central [School] to concentrate on the South Kensington professorship. 1972H. Kurath Studies in Area Linguistics 54 The South Atlantic States—the Southern and South Midland dialect areas. 1975Times 11 Mar. 13/2 Little girls with South Ken accents. 1982Daily Tel. 11 Oct. 18/4 Spinks of St. James's tell me..that the South Atlantic Medal will be seen.
c. With ns. and adjs. derived from the names of countries, districts, or peoples. South Spainer, formerly, a ship engaged in trade with Spain; a sailor on such a ship. See also South African n. and a., South American n. and a.
1612Drayton Poly-olb. xi. 215 The high descent of that South-Saxon King. 1808Jamieson Diss. in Sc. Dict. I. 21 The Romans..conquered the South-Britains. 1821A. Royall Lett. from Alabama (1830) 137 She married a South Carolinian. 1839Dublin Rev. May 449 ‘Read Mr. James's book,’ said a South Australian colonist to the writer of this article. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 270/2 South Polar countries. 1844Lady Duff-Gordon tr. Meinhold's Amber Witch Introd., His South-German language betrays a foreign origin. 1856C. Nordhoff Merchant Vessel viii. 97 They hold all manner of foreign vessels, or ‘south Spainers’, in supreme contempt. 1862Borrow Wales lxvii, The people speak neither English nor Welsh, not even South Welsh as you do. Ibid., Anybody may know you are South Welsh by your English. 1877Encycl. Brit. VII. 188/2 South Slavic [dictionary]—Richter and Ballman, Wien, 1839–40. 1881Ibid. XII. 755/2 The South Indian [railway line] (the only one on the narrow gauge), in the extreme south, from Cape Comorin to Madras city. 1889N.Y. Semi-Weekly Tribune 6 Dec. 13/4 Three ballots were put in the box for the South Dakotans to draw from. 1903H. Holmes Life & Adv. on Oceans 8 There may be truth in the saying that a South Spainer, bound for a warm climate, can put his clothes in a stocking. 1924W. Runciman Before Mast ii. iii. 46 Never a cargo vessel looked cleaner or better cared for than this little South-Spainer. 1936A. W. Clapham Romanesque Archit. iv. 81 The system of barrel-vaults without direct lighting of the aisled nave is general in the south-French school. 1939South Caucasian [see Laz]. 1941C. S. Forester Captain from Connecticut iii. 57 Hubbard's South Carolinian speech. 1949Britannica Bk. of Year 380/1 An interim agreement was signed calling for some U.S. troops to remain in Korea until South Korean military forces could be well organized. 1950‘P. Woodruff’ Island of Chamba ii. 43 There will be food in the Persian style as well as Moghul and South Indian. 1951Britannica Bk. of Year 342/2 In East Indonesia some prominent Ambonnese people..on April 25 [1950] seceded and proclaimed a South Moluccan independent republic. 1958T. Hickinbotham Aden xii. 196 The South Arabian League which originally advocated union between the Colony and the Protectorate. 1963E. Humphreys Gift ii. i. 207 ‘No thanks, Stel, love.’ With her I tended to talk as if I were a South Walian. 1966J. Cleary High Commissioner i. 20 The Americans will accuse the Chinese and vice versa. The same with the South Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. 1971Guardian 12 July 7/2 Guiding bewildered Irishmen and rooted South Londoners through the intricacies of Notting Hill Gate. 1972‘E. Peters’ Death to Landlords! ix. 135 You are a South Indian yourself, Mr. Narayanan. 1975Amer. Speech 1973 XLVIII. 60 A South Dakotan holds that a wet bituminous road is slippery but an icy road is slick. 1975Times 3 Dec. 1/6 The hijackers, all South Moluccans who demanded the return of the islands. 1977Trans. Philol. Soc. 1975 176 Cuillem looks possible, c presumably representing South Walian phonetics. 1978Amer. Speech LIII. 41 Three areas of the eastern states provided the bulk of the English-speaking settlers for the North Central states: South Midlanders from the Upland South, [etc.]. 1979Guardian 5 Nov. 11/6 The marvellous Tipi cover by South Dakotan Sioux braves.
2. a. With common nouns: Lying towards the south; situated on the side next the south.
Also transf. of a magnet pole: see pole n.2 5.
c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §8 Hiera suþᵹemæro licgeað to þæm Readan Sæ. 971Blickling Hom. 201 Ðær wæs seo suðduru hwæt hweᵹa hade mare. a1124Eadmer in Rock Ch. of our Fathers (1903) I. 178 note, Principale hostium ecclesiæ, quod antiquitus ab Anglis et nunc usque Suthdure dicitur. c1205Lay. 27932 Biburied he wes þere..wið uten þan suð ȝæte. 1382Wyclif Ezek. xlvi. 9 He that entrith by the waye of the south ȝate. 14..Sailing Directions (Hakluyt Soc., 1889) 14 A south moone makith high watir. 1473Rolls of Parlt. VI. 85/1, xv acres of arable Lond,..liyng in the southfeldes of the seid Cite. 1560Gargrave in J. J. Cartwright Chapters Hist. Yks. (1872) 10 At Shefeld, wyche was the sowthyst parte of his commyssyon. 1644in Scottish Jrnl. Topog. (1847) I. 73 The Rebells..are betwixt vs and ye Path of Droone on ye south hand. 1738Gentl. Mag. VIII. 577/1 By taking her Meridian Altitudes, both North and South. 1792Morse Amer. Geog. (ed. 2) 253 The fort near the south end of the city. 1801Farmer's Mag. Aug. 290 Elgin..situated on the south bank of the Lossie. 1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 217/1 Off the shore are the North and South roads.
Comb.c1470Henry Wallace viii. 747 Abowne the toune, apon the southpart sid. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. i. i. 5 A south-central group, including Jersey. 1880Sat. Rev. 2 Oct. 424/1 Brighton and other South-coast watering-places.
b. South Crown, South Fish, South Triangle: (see quots. and southern a. 3 b).
1594Blundevil Exerc. iv. xix. (1636) 473 Foure other Images towards the South Pole, as the Crosse.., the South Triangle [etc.]. 1638Chilmead tr. Hues' Treat. Globes ii. vi, The foureteenth [constellation] is Corona Australis, or South Crowne... The fifteenth is Piscis Austrinus, the South Fish. 1674Moxon Tutor Astron. i. iii. §10 (ed. 3) 19 Constellations..added by Frederico Houtmanno,..who..named them as follows:..7 The Camelion, 8 The South Triangle. 1771Encycl. Brit. I. 487/1 The new Southern Constellations [include]..Triangulum Australis, The South Triangle.
c. South Bank, spec. the southern bank of the Thames and the areas adjacent to it, (a) noted esp. for the cultural complexes and public gardens developed between Westminster and Blackfriars bridges for and since the Festival of Britain in 1951; also attrib. and ellipt., any of these complexes; (b) used (freq. attrib. and as adj.) with reference to the policy of the Anglican diocese of Southwark to re-express traditional beliefs and practices in ways that would make them better suited to contemporary life.
1951H. Nicolson Diary 4 May (1968) 206 Viti and I go to the South Bank Exhibition. We are entranced. 1961Guardian 19 May 22/5 A glass-and-wood pavilion in best South Bank style. 1963M. Frayn in Sissons & French Age of Austerity xv. 329 The South Bank site—a derelict slum, low-lying, marshy, and heavily blitzed. Ibid. 330 A model of the South Bank made out of toilet rolls. 1963Guardian 8 July 14/3 The problems of the South Bank parishes which this so-called South Bank religion is trying to tackle. 1965Lunn & Lean Cult of Softness iv. 44 The new predestination exercises a certain attraction on South Bank theologians. 1967A. Laski Seven Other Years xiii. 179 It may be that I am going a little far in calling it atheism; it might, I suppose, be regarded as an effusion of so-called South Bank Christianity. 1968J. Turner Requiem for Two Sisters i. 5 The vicar..had never thought it part of his duty to dress in a black suit and dog-collar all the time. Indeed, his opinions were to a great extent South Bank. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vi. 88 No one takes any notice of the clergy nowadays, except for Humanists waiting to welcome South-Bank bishops into the fold. 1977Skateboard Special Sept. 3/4, I do a lot of riding on the South Bank. 1980Times 22 Oct. 13/7 The National have given us many fine productions... This one lapse of quality does not justify the witch-hunt on the South Bank.
3. Of the wind: Blowing from the south. Also fig.
Cf. OE. súðan wind and southen a.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 951 Auster, suðuuind. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xii. 55 Miððy [ᵹie ᵹeseað] suð wind, ᵹie cuoeðas þætte wind bið. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 567 Vent mouent et vent galerne, Southwynde, westwynde. 1388Wyclif Ps. lxxvii. 26 He turnede ouere the south wynde fro heuene. 14..Lat.-Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 596 Ventus meridialis, Southwynde. 1513Douglas æneid iii. vi. 4 The south wyndis blast Our piggeis and our pinsalis wavit fast. a1593Marlowe Ovid's Elegies ii. viii. 19 Thou Goddesse doest command a warme South-blast. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 734 Meanwhile the Southwind rose,..with black wings Wide hovering. 1734Pope tr. Hor., Sat. ii. ii. 27 Oh blast it, South-winds! till a stench exhale. 1820Shelley Orpheus 88, I have seen A fierce south blast tear through the darkened sky. 1847Helps Friends in C. i. i. 4 The clang of an anvil..came faintly up to us when the wind was south. 1917N. Douglas South Wind ii. 16 For Nepenthe was famous not only for its girls and lobsters, but also for its south wind.
fig.1937C. Mackenzie (title) The south wind of love. 1946L. B. Lyon Rough Walk Home 28 Ask that for these may blow The hot south rage of life again.
transf.1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 136 The South-Fog rot him.
4. Of or pertaining to the south; belonging or native to the south.
Cf. OE. súðfolc, -mæᵹð, -mann.
c1470Henry Wallace xi. 779 The South byschop..Till London past, and tald Eduuard him sell. 1616Barbour's Bruce (Hart) xvii. 843 For the South men wald that he made Arest there. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 281 The Assiento Contract has excluded all the Subjects of Great Britain from Trading to New-Spain, but..the South-Company. 1821Scott Kenilw. i, For what says the south proverb. 1973Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 1 Feb. 17/1 Behind the move to promote female calypsonians is well-known south businessman, Mr. Lall Parsotan.
5. Facing the south. Also Comb.
1527–8Rec. St. Mary at Hill 343 A pane in oon of the sowth windowse. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. State iii. vii. 167 A South-window in summer is a chimny with a fire in't. 1706London & Wise Retir'd Gard. I. i. xii. 53 A South-aspected Wall in Sussex, or about London. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 30/2 A south wall..is proper for training them as wall-trees. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 177 Walls having a south aspect. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xx, Carnations and mignonette blooming in the south window.
6. Tending towards the south.
1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 141/1 The south declination of the sun. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxxiv. (ed. 3) 303 Within a few steps of Hanover Square, in a south direction.
7. Oxf. Univ. slang. (See quot.)
1823Egan Grose's Dict. Vulgar T., South Jeopardy, terrors of insolvency.
▸ Perhaps with allusion to the appearance of a downward trend on a graph. colloq. (orig. Stock Market). Downward or lower in value or price. Also in extended use: downward or lower in quality; in or into a worse condition or position. Esp. in to head (also go) south.
south of: lower than, worse than.
1975Business Week 14 Apr. 63/2 If the market is headed South..there is a point beyond which information and growth prospects are meaningless. 1986Financial Times (Nexis) 5 July i6 With oil heading south of $10..the London stock market today stands less than 4 per cent below its highest ever level. 1996N.Y. Times 6 Oct. f13 If the market turns south, Mr. Kim concedes he would sell to cut his losses. 2003R. B. Parker Stone Cold (2004) xl. 154 But your marriage went south and you had a drinking problem. 2006N.Y. Times (Nexis) 4 June e1 Though Mr. Alund admitted that the rest of Doha's night life scene is somewhere south of anemic, he is bullish about its future.
▪ II. south, v.|saʊθ|
[f. south adv. or n.]
1. intr. To cross the meridian of a place.
1659–[see southing vbl. n. 1 a]. 1828Moore Pract. Navig. 140 The minutes after noon when she [sc. the moon] souths. 1883R. A. Proctor Great Pyramid iii. 125 [The star] must have been visible to the naked eye, even when southing in full daylight.
2. To veer, move, or turn towards the south; to blow more from the south.
1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 173, I took the occasion..to keep still on southing. 1864in Webster. 1898J. M. Falkner Moonfleet xi, About sun-down the wind southed a point or two.
▪ III. south
obs. f. sooth a., soothe v.; var. sowth. |