Southumbriann.adj.
/saʊˈθʌmbrɪən/, U.S. /saʊˈθəmbriən/ Chiefly Anglo-Saxon History.
A. n.
A native or inhabitant of the northern part of the early English kingdom of Mercia, south of the River Humber and north of the River Trent. Also more widely: a native or inhabitant of England south of the River Humber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > British nation > English nation > [noun] > native or inhabitant of England > ancient kingdoms
West Saxona1387
Merciana1513
Southumbrian1725
Cumbrian1747
Bernician1819
1725 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. I. iii. 182 The Inhabitants of this Kingdom are sometimes term'd, by Historians, Mediterranei Angli, or the Mid-land English, and sometimes South-Humbrians, as being South of the Humber: but the most common Name is That of Mercians.
1789 J. Pinkerton Enq. Hist. Scotl. I. iii. x. 357 The Saxon Chronicle was certainly begun, if not compleated, in Northumbria, for it distinguishes the South Humbrians from Us.
1823 J. Ingram tr. Saxon Chron. 37/2 Oswald..was slain by Penda, king of the Southumbrians [in 642].
1853 C. D. Yonge tr. ‘Matthew of Westminster’ Flowers of Hist. I. 333 The Mercians, who are also called the Southumbrians, that is to say, that part of the Mercians..north of the river Trent.
1899 C. Plummer Two Saxon Chrons. Parallel II. 440/2 Penda a Southumbrian.
1943 F. M. Stenton Anglo-Saxon Eng. ii. 32 No formal document ever speaks of the Southumbrians, but the Anglian, Saxon, and Jutish peoples who lived between the Humber and the Channel are often brought together in early charters as the Sutangli, or southern English.
1994 H. M. Jewell North-South Divide vii. 188 Gaimar..speaks of Southumbrians under Cenred, in a kingdom from the Humber to Rutland and beyond.
1996 M. Lapidge Anglo-Latin Lit. 600–899 i. 13 Whereas the Southumbrians turned to Rome, the Northumbrians turned to Ireland and Iona.
B. adj.
Of or relating to northern Mercia. Also more widely: of or relating to England south of the River Humber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > England > [adjective] > districts of England > Old English districts or kingdoms
Mercian1543
Southumbrian1819
Bernician1907
1819 A. Gurney tr. Literal Transl. Saxon Chron. 12 From this Woden the line of our Kings is descended, and that of the Southumbrian Kings also.
1887 Dict. National Biogr. XI. 213 A reaction against the Southumbrian party.
1899 C. Plummer Two Saxon Chrons. Parallel II. 35 Extent of the Southumbrian kingdom.
1917 H. H. Howorth Golden Days of Early Eng. Church I. p. cxl The presence of Bishop Acca at a Southumbrian Conference is also most unlikely.
1944 Econ. Hist. Rev. 14 56 If Deiran rule imposed carucation upon all the Southumbrian regions which he suggests, it is hard to account for it failure to introduce it into Bernicia.
1994 A. Lutz in D. Kastovsky Stud. Early Mod. Eng. 176 In the Southumbrian dialects in general, the complex vowels resulting from vocalisation of /h/ developed early enough to be included in the Great Vowel Shift.
2002 C. Cubitt in A. Thacker & R. Sharpe Local Saints & Local Churches xii. 440 Apart from Theodore, no Southumbrian figures are named (not even Augustine).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1725