southern

Adjective (1)

southern (comparative more southern, superlative most southern or southernmost)

1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the south.
2. Of or pertaining to a southern region, especially Southern Europe or the southern United States.
   • The southern climate.
   • From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2020, page 52
3. Of a wind: blowing from the south; southerly.

Noun

southern (plural southerns)

1. Synonym of southerner.
   • Force prevails most with the northerns, reason with the inhabitants of a temperate or middle climate, superstition with the southerns; thus astrology, magic, and all mysterious sciences have come from the Chaldeans and Egyptians.1839, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries
   • The peace which the French leaguers made soon after with Louis XL, for money and offices, did not satisfy the southerns, whose views in this patriotic war had been wholly different.2011, Augustin Thierry, History of the Conquest of England by the Normans, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   southerner

Adjective (2) capitalized: Southern

IPA/ˈsʌð.ən/

Southern (comparative more Southern, superlative most Southern)

1. From or pertaining to the southern part of any region.
2. (US) From or pertaining to the South, the south-eastern states of the United States, southern portions of some other states (e.g., Southern California), or to the inhabitants or culture of that region.
   • But although Southern cooking makes use of a cornucopia of vegetables, it also typically includes generous portions of meat and fried chicken. Even vegetable dishes and breads are often cooked with animal fat: Greens are fried in bacon grease […]1993, Lillian Kayte, Southern Surprise, published in the June 1993 issue of the Vegetarian Times, page 36
   • Southern cooking makes its presence felt throughout the northern half of the state. Vegetables such as okra, collard greens, black-eyed peas, fried green tomatoes, and fried eggplant are added to staples such as fried chicken, roast beef, and hogjaw — meat from the mouth of a pig.2004, Mark Ellwood, Todd Obolsky, Ross Velton, The Rough Guide to Florida, page 34

Proper noun capitalized: Southern

IPA/ˈsʌð.ən/

Southern

1. A surname.
2. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Southern Comfort.