south-eastadv.adj.n.
/ˌsaʊθˈiːst/, U.S. /ˈsaʊθˈist/ A. adv.
In a direction midway between south and east.
a. With reference to direction, motion, or extent. Also with modifications, as south-east by east, south-east by south.
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the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [adjective]
south-eastOE
south-eastern1577
south-easterly1600
sunny-east1633
south-east1705
southeastwardly1705
south-eastward1749
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [adverb]
south-eastOE
south-eastward1528
south-east1548
south-easterly1600
south-eastwardsa1650
southeastwardly1706
OE tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 18 Donua muða þære ea scyt suðeast ut on ðone sæ Euxinus.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1097 He [sc. the comet] wæs gesewen suðweast, & se leoma þe him of stod wæs swiðe lang geþuht suðeast scinende.
a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 5225 Al þat niȝth Hij riden south est riȝth.
?c1475 in J. Gairdner Sailing Direct. (1889) 11 Fro Houndeclif fote to Humbre the cours is south est and be south.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 186 Sowthest he saw..Saxten salis arayit all on raw.
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. sig. M. vii We marched sowtheast from the Frith, into ye landward.
1577 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 733/2 Passand southeist as the commoun gait gangis.
1626 E. Deane Spadacrene Anglica vi. 10 The water..running South-East, is very cleare, pure, full of life, and minerall exhalations.
1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece vi. 481 I observed Corinth to lie South-East by South off us.
a1731 D. Defoe New Voy. round World (1787) II. 44 We..stood off to sea, steering still South East.
1790 Cook's Voy. I. vi. 151 We saw the same land south-east by south four leagues distant.
1850 G. Cupples Green Hand vi. 75/2 I held south-east-by-east to the mark.
1882 Gazetteer Bombay Presidency XIII. vi. 318 Another road ran south-east by Badlápur, Nasrápur, and the Kusur pass.
1914 D. Haig Diary 11 Nov. in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 80 Colonel Davies..advances southeast from Westhoek.
1959 ‘J. Wyndham’ & L. Parkes Outward Urge ii. 86 Radar Watch here, sir..Two ufos observed approaching south-east by south.
2000 Pract. Classics June 10/1 We head south-east to arrive at the German circuit as dusk falls.
b. With reference to relative position: with of.
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the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [adverb]
south-eastOE
south-eastward1528
south-east1548
south-easterly1600
south-eastwardsa1650
southeastwardly1706
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. E iij Vpon this Fauxsyd Bray.., aboute halfe a myle southeast of them.
1579 J. Frampton tr. B. de Escalante Disc. Nauigation iv. f. 9 Although that the cape of Buena Esperanca do fal Southeast of them, they cannot make their way good.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. i. 6 Aram Rehob, or Beth-Rehoh, so called from a principall City therein, lay south east of mount Libanus.
1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis 651 South-East of the City Liucheu, is the Mountain Pao.
1744 T. Salmon Present State Univ. (new ed.) I. 474 Dorchester is now a little Town, situate forty-two Miles West of London, and eight South-east of Oxford on the River Isis.
?1768–9 Encycl. Brit. (1771) I. 577/1 Bobbio, a town..about twenty~eight miles south-east of Pavia.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 414/2 About four miles South-East of Callington.
1897 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign x. 263 The district east and south-east of Charter.
1927 F. M. Thrasher Gang i. i. 15 Southeast of the south branch of the Chicago River lies the third major division of gangland—the South Side badlands.
1978 Handbk. N. Amer. Indians XV. 282 The Coree and Neusiok.., who during their later history were called the Neuse River Indians, lived southeast of the Tuscarora settlement area.
2000 M. Evans et al. World Food: Italy 94 Limited wine from Anagni, south-east of Rome.
B. adj. Recorded earliest (in Old English) in compounds of the (uninflected) adverb stem; see etymological note.
1.
a. Lying or situated in or towards the south-east.
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eOE Bede Glosses (Tiber. C.ii) in H. D. Meritt Old Eng. Glosses (1945) 14/1 ad eurum : on ða suðeasthalfe.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxix. 303 From Indeum, þæt is se suðeastende þisses middaneardes, oð ðæt iland þe we hatað Tyle, þæt is on þam norðwestende þisses middaneardes.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. xi. 730 The south eeste partie þerof [Alania] streccheþ vpward fro þe see Pontus and is ioynede alle to þe Greete See.
1445 Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall No. A 71. m. 3v (MED) A wall..strecchyng..vnto a corner post stondyng in the southest Corner of the tenement.
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. L viij We pyght our fyeld a prik shot on this syde the toun: being on the southest half.
1577 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 395 In the Sowest warde, Mr. Ewen; in the Sowthwest warde, Mr. William Barton.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §405 The Planting of Trees warme vpon a Wall, against the South, or South-East Sunne.
1737 Chamberlayne's Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 33) i. iii. xi. 272 On the Tops of the South East, and West Piedments, are the Tunnels of all the Chimneys.
1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 115 Other ramifications run both on the south-east and north-west sides of Snowdonia.
1917 E. W. Wilcox Poet. Wks. 452 A fair green garden sloping From the south-east side of the mountain-ledge.
1958 Life 14 Apr. 138/2 Red, our best close-combat man, took a big assault party into an empty lot on the southeast corner.
2001 Independent (Nexis) 15 Sept. 11 There are vines in the vine houses,..and, in the south-east corner, a miniature castle.
b. With proper names or their derivatives: denoting the south-eastern part of a region or its inhabitants.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of specific region > [adjective] > southern people
southernOE
southOE
southernly1620
south-east1959
1631 W. Lisle Faire Æthiopian ii. 43 Oyly-shining pearle, as big as pease, All perfit round, of South-East Indies seas.
?1790 J. Lowe Treat. Solar Creation & Univ. Deluge ix. 314 This account by Aristotle, of the peopling of south east America.
1844 Simmonds's Colonial Mag. 2 233 The British dominions in Southeast Africa now extend over 235,256 square miles.
1893 Geogr. Jrnl. Nov. 474 Travel and Adventure in South-east Africa: being the narrative of the last eleven years spent..on the Zambesi.
1909 Prospectus (South-East Borneo Rubber Plantations Ltd.) 2 This Company has been formed for the purpose of acquiring and working the Rubber Plantation known as Tanah-Intan..situated in South-East Borneo.
1946 F. Owen Campaign in Burma vii. 44 To complete the picture of South-East Asia Command we must reintroduce Lieutenant-General Joseph Stilwell.
1959 ‘M. Derby’ Tigress ii. 86 Young South-East Asians at play.
1964 Whitaker's Almanack 71/1 South-East England Development Proposals.
1968 O. Wynd Sumatra Seven Zero v. 57 The South-east Asian male is never turned out burly.
2004 Independent (Nexis) 20 Nov. At the Dinosaur Trails of Purgatory.., in the Picketwire Canyonlands of south-east Colorado, is a collection of over 1,000 dinosaur tracks.
2. Of a wind or current: blowing or running from the south-east.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > from specific point of compass
southeOE
northeOE
northerneOE
easternOE
southernOE
south-easternOE
north-easternOE
westernOE
south-westernOE
southena1325
north-east1379
east-north-easta1398
east-south-easta1398
north-north-easta1398
north-westa1398
south-southeasta1398
south-westc1400
south-easta1425
nor'-westa1500
south-southwesta1522
north-westera1525
northerlya1544
southerly1550
south-southeast?1560
south-easterly1577
north-north-west1601
subprincipal1601
southernly1610
north-westerly1611
easternly1614
northernly1632
westwardly1653
northwardly1654
north-easterly1686
southwardly1693
southwesterly1703
eastling1725
south-southeasterly1803
westland1818
south-southwesterly1822
north-western1829
north-north-easterly1831
southwesterly1883
nor-nor-east1891
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 25 Eureastor, souþe este wynde.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 117v Sowthest wynde, euriaster, nothus.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xi. iii. sig. 9i/1 That one is Eestwarde and hyghte Nothus ye Southeest winde.
1550 W. Lynne tr. J. Funke Actes & Hist. Worlde 1532–50 in tr. J. Carion Thre Bks. Cronicles f. ccxxiiii He sayled towardes Duracho with a Southeast wynde.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Euronotus, a south east wynde.
1579 J. Frampton tr. B. de Escalante Disc. Nauigation iv. f. 9 In those Seas are many leuantes which are Eastsoutheast and Southeast windes, that doeth cause them to fal ouer.
1603 A. Hartwell tr. L. Soranzo Ottoman iii. §xiv. f. 78 Costing all along Italie with the land windes, the Easterne winde, the South-East winde, and the South winde,..hee may most easily ouerrunne all.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Siroch, a South-east wind.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Süest, the Southeast wind.
1660 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Mores Hominum xiv. 470 To see thee, in thy Corycian Ship Dwelling for South, and South-east winds to wrack.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Wind The North-West Winds succeed the South-East, when the Sun draws near the Tropic of Capricorn.
1758 P. Williamson Considerations Present State of Affairs 52 The North and North-West-Winds are very nitrous and piercing Cold:..The South, and South-East-Winds, hasy and sultry hot.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 153 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV Prevailing winds southeast, northwest, and northeast.
1898 Jrnl. School Geogr. (U.S.) Oct. 298 The strong southeast swell produced by the southeast trade.
1932 Geogr. Jrnl. 80 223 Here we stayed for two days, while a south-east gale blew itself out.
1963 Coleopterists Bull. 17 17 The day was bright and clear with a moderate southeast breeze.
2001 J. Robinson Voices of Queensland vi. 175 Warrmara , cool south-east wind.
3. Directed towards the south-east.
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the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [adjective]
south-eastOE
south-eastern1577
south-easterly1600
sunny-east1633
south-east1705
southeastwardly1705
south-eastward1749
1705 J. Harris Navigantium I. i. iii. 17/2 They chang'd their North-East for a South-East Course.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Compass What [has been said] of South-East Amplitudes, holds of North-West Amplitudes.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 142 The coals and coal metals trend away in a south-east direction to the skirts of the Moorfoot hills.
1820 G. Belzoni Narr. Egypt & Nubia iii. 307 Mr. Beechey and myself went in a south-east direction.
1897 Ann. Iowa July 88 South of Brooklyn a more nearly southeast course was taken.
1922 W. W. Folwell Hist. Minnesota (ed. 2) I. vi. 147 The boundary agreed on stretched in a general southeast direction from the junction of Goose Creek.
1956 Times 25 Aug. 5/2 Peking radio said that the aircraft intruded over Chinese islands..and ‘flew off in a south-east direction after being hit.’
2000 D. Crowell Exploring Southern Calif. Beaches vii. 81 The 6-mile shoreline arcs ever so slightly on a southeast path toward Huntington City Beach.
C. n.
1. The point of the horizon midway between south and east; the direction of this; (also) the compass point corresponding to this.
a. Without definite article.
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the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [noun]
south-eastc1325
south-easta1387
south-eastward1555
south-eastwards1588
south-east1683
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 175 (MED) Fram douere in to chestre tilleþ watelinge stret Fram souþest to þe norþwest, & þat is somdel gret.
1573 G. Gascoigne Hundreth Sundrie Flowres 391 At last with raging blast, whiche from Southeast did blowe, Gan send our sayles vpon these shores.
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course i. f. 5 When the moone is at Northeast, it is full sea; and when she is at Southeast, it is low water.
1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will 869 in Wks. (Grosart) VI. 120 Haruest..by south and south-east, shewe thy selfe like a beast.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. v. 134 They call the North Tramontana;..Southeast is by them named Xirocque.
1619 J. Bainbridge Astron. Descr. Late Comet 8 The Comet did euery day rise sooner then other, withall changing his azimuth, or point of compasse (in his rising) from South-east and by East towards the north vntill at length it made continual abode aboue our Horizon.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1710) 345 It is faced all round with a steep Rock, except a Bay at South-East.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 102 The bearing of course must be in a line from north~west to south-east.
1868 Chambers's Encycl. X. 214/1 Similarly, in the southern tropic, the wind will blow from south-east to north-west.
1879 A. Geikie in Encycl. Brit. X. 352/2 The variations in thickness from north-west to south-east.
1948 A. R. Burn Alexander the Great iv. 70 The victorious army swung southward along one of the Pindos valleys that run conveniently for one travelling from north-west to south-east.
2001 Miami Herald (Nexis) 11 Nov. 2 nw The buses will run return routes..from northwest to southeast.
b. With definite article. Also with of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [noun]
south-eastc1325
south-easta1387
south-eastward1555
south-eastwards1588
south-east1683
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 173 A partie þerof hatte Bulgaria, and haþ in þe est side Mesia, in þe souþ est Histria.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 47 Watlingestreete goenge..from the sowthe este in to the northeweste.
1555 R. Eden Disc. Vyage rounde Worlde in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 228v They..folowed the South easte nere vnto a cape of the Iland of Buthuan.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias xiii. f. 31v To auoide and apart himselfe from that coast, he made his way to the Southeast, & vppon the Saterday he made to landward.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. True Hist. Siege Ostend 50 There came a great Ship to the South-east of the port of the Towne.
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iv. ii. sig. Ssss2v Xeres de la Fontera..situate on the Frontires towards Nicaragua, and to the South east of the Bay of Fonseca.
1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis 153 The next Morning they all dropp'd Anchor in the Bay of Pehoe, lying to the South-East.
a1731 D. Defoe New Voy. round World (1787) III. 147 They should have turned off to the South East.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea IV. i. 3 Nadir was born in the year 1687, at a village, or more probably in a tent, a few days journey to the south-east of Mesched.
1778 Encycl. Brit. II. 1275/1 Bornholm, an island..to the south-east of the province of Schonen.
1806 A. Duncan Life Nelson 61 He made the signal..to..steer to the south-east.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xviii. 171 The shore is rocky, and directly exposed to the southeast.
1861 F. A. Paley Æschylus' Supplices (ed. 2) 280 (note) A tract lying some~where to the south or south-east of Europe.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 2/2 It [sc. a squall] blew for a few minutes violently; then backened back to the south-east.
1941 Manch. Guardian Weekly 10 Jan. 20/2 The Australians engaged strong enemy defence pockets to the south-east of this line.
2002 A. Proulx That Old Ace in Hole (2003) xii. 148 The tower developed a slight list to the southeast.
2. A wind blowing from the south-east. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction > winds from specific compass points > south-east
south-east1440
south-easter1774
south-easterly1859
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 466/2 Sowthe eest, Euroauster.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 388 The south-east blust'ring with a dreadful sound.
1775 L. Carter Diary 3 Sept. (1965) II. 937 A Southeast is returning all the Clouds.
1885 W. H. P. Greswell Our S. Afr. Empire iii. 83 When the steamer drops anchor there now,..especially if a southeast is blowing, there is a feeling to the traveller of only half security.
1914 Everybody's Mag. Mar. 391/2 The southeast was howling harder than ever and almost laying flat the little eucalyptus trees.
3.
a. The south-eastern part of a country or region.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > South > South-east > [noun]
south-eastc1325
south-easta1387
south-eastward1555
south-eastwards1588
south-east1683
1683 J. S. Present State Eng. iii. 24 There is also another Stowr in Kent, which runs through Canterbury, and is said to breed the best Trouts in the South-East of England.
1814 Boston Spectator 1 Jan. 3/2 The French force remaining in the southeast of Spain, does not exceed 40,000.
1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 204/2 The climate resembles that of the south-east of England.
1951 G. L. Trager & H. L. Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. i. 25 In the Southeast of the United States, in both the Coastal and Piedmont speech.
1969 Scotsman 25 Apr. 9/3 The country's two boom areas—the South-east of England and West Midlands.
2006 Grocer 9 Dec. 61/1 Yumberries are mainly cultivated in the south east of China and contain lots of vitamin B and C.
b. Without of. The south-eastern part of a country or region; esp. of England.
ΚΠ
1778 Encycl. Brit. II. 1274/2 The south-east, for many leagues together, is a stinking morass.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. i. i. 17 Gloomy tidings..of Sardinia rising to invade the South-East.
1939 Fortune Nov. (Suppl.) 1/2 The most belligerent groups are..the people of the Southeast and the Southwest.
1968 Radio Times 28 Nov. 20/5 A look at some non-broadcast music events taking place in London and the South East.
1972 P. Johnson Offshore Islanders iii. 146 There was an enormous bias in favour of the south-east. Clergymen did not want to serve in the wilder and poorer districts of the north and west.
2000 Thames Water Ann. Rep. & Accts. 6/2 The UK Utility business remains the largest such water company in the UK, serving London and the South East.
Phrases
† at (the) south-east: (with reference to a wind) from the south-east. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xxxv. f. 74 Beyng vpon the maine Sea, in the night the winde rose at the Southeast.
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya iii. 13 There arose a sodaine and terrible tempest at the Southeast.
1658 Earl of Monmouth tr. P. Paruta Hist. Venice ii. iii. 176 The winde blowing at South-East, Uluzzali was forc'd to take an other course.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 29 We met with some bad Weather.., the Wind blowing very hard at the South-East.
1889 A. E. Knight Bible Plants & Animals i. 15 They presently retired with a wind at south-east.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.adj.n.eOE