SOUTH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does South mean? 

• SOUTH (noun)
  The noun SOUTH has 5 senses:

1. the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line

2. the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861

3. the cardinal compass point that is at 180 degrees

4. a location in the southern part of a country, region, or city

5. the direction corresponding to the southward cardinal compass point

  Familiarity information: SOUTH used as a noun is common.

• SOUTH (adjective)
  The adjective SOUTH has 1 sense:

1. situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the south

  Familiarity information: SOUTH used as an adjective is very rare.

• SOUTH (adverb)
  The adverb SOUTH has 1 sense:

1. in a southern direction

  Familiarity information: SOUTH used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOUTH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Meronyms (parts of "South"):

Tenn.; Tennessee; TN; Volunteer State (a state in east central United States)

Palmetto State; S.C.; SC; South Carolina (a state in the Deep South; one of the original 13 colonies)

N.C.; NC; North Carolina; Old North State; Tar Heel State (a state in southeastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies)

Magnolia State; Miss.; Mississippi; MS (a state in the Deep South on the gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate States during the American Civil War)

Free State; Maryland; MD; Md.; Old Line State (a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies)

Old Dominion; Old Dominion State; VA; Va.; Virginia (a state in the eastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies; one of the Confederate States in the American Civil War)

LA; La.; Louisiana; Pelican State (a state in southern United States on the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Piedmont (the plateau between the coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains: parts of Virginia and North and South Carolina and Georgia and Alabama)

Carolina; Carolinas (the area of the states of North Carolina and South Carolina)

Tidewater; Tidewater region (the coastal plain of the South: eastern parts of Virginia and North Carolina and South Carolina and Georgia)

Deep South (the southeastern region of the United States: South Carolina and Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana; prior to the American Civil War all these states produced cotton and permitted slavery)

Gulf States (a region of the United States comprising states bordering the Gulf of Mexico; Alabama and Florida and Louisiana and Mississippi and Texas)

Empire State of the South; GA; Ga.; Georgia; Peach State (a state in southeastern United States; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Meronyms (members of "South"):

Southerner (an American who lives in the South)

Attribute:

southern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)

Domain member region:

hoecake (thin usually unleavened johnnycake made of cornmeal; originally baked on the blade of a hoe over an open fire (southern))

KKK; Klan; Ku Klux Klan (a secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "South"):

AL; Ala.; Alabama; Camellia State; Heart of Dixie (a state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Instance hyponyms:

Old South (the South of the United States before the American Civil War)

Holonyms ("South" is a part of...):

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Confederacy; Confederate States; Confederate States of America; Dixie; Dixieland; South

Instance hypernyms:

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Meronyms (parts of "South"):

slave state (any of the southern states in which slavery was legal prior to the American Civil War)

Meronyms (members of "South"):

Lone-Star State; Tex.; Texas; TX (the second largest state; located in southwestern United States on the Gulf of Mexico)

Old Dominion; Old Dominion State; VA; Va.; Virginia (a state in the eastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies; one of the Confederate States in the American Civil War)

Tenn.; Tennessee; TN; Volunteer State (a state in east central United States)

Palmetto State; S.C.; SC; South Carolina (a state in the Deep South; one of the original 13 colonies)

N.C.; NC; North Carolina; Old North State; Tar Heel State (a state in southeastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies)

Missouri; MO; Mo.; Show Me State (a midwestern state in central United States; a border state during the American Civil War, Missouri was admitted to the Confederacy without actually seceding from the Union)

LA; La.; Louisiana; Pelican State (a state in southern United States on the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Empire State of the South; GA; Ga.; Georgia; Peach State (a state in southeastern United States; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Everglade State; FL; Fla.; Florida; Sunshine State (a state in southeastern United States between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War. In Spanish, Florida means Flowery)

Magnolia State; Miss.; Mississippi; MS (a state in the Deep South on the gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate States during the American Civil War)

AR; Ark.; Arkansas; Land of Opportunity (a state in south central United States; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

AL; Ala.; Alabama; Camellia State; Heart of Dixie (a state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War)

Attribute:

south (situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the south)

southern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The cardinal compass point that is at 180 degrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

due south; S; south; southward

Hypernyms ("south" is a kind of...):

cardinal compass point (one of the four main compass points)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A location in the southern part of a country, region, or city

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("south" is a kind of...):

location (a point or extent in space)

Attribute:

southern (situated in or coming from regions of the south)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The direction corresponding to the southward cardinal compass point

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("south" is a kind of...):

direction (the spatial relation between something and the course along which it points or moves)

• SOUTH (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the south

Context example:

the south entrance

Similar:

southwestward (toward the southwest)

southwest; southwesterly (coming from the southwest)

southwest; southwesterly; southwestern (situated in or oriented toward the southwest)

southeastward (toward the southeast)

southeast; southeasterly (coming from the southeast)

southeast; southeasterly; southeastern (situated in or oriented toward the southeast)

southernmost; southmost (situated farthest south)

southerly; southern (situated in or oriented toward the south)

southerly; southern (from the south; used especially of wind)

south-central (situated in the southern part of a centrally located area in some geographical region)

southbound; southward (moving toward the south)

Attribute:

Confederacy; Confederate States; Confederate States of America; Dixie; Dixieland; South (the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861)

Antonym:

north (situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the north)

• SOUTH (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a southern direction

Synonyms:

in the south; south; to the south

Context example:

we moved south

 Context examples 

North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You had known Ralph Smith in South Africa.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The South Seas were calling, and he knew that sooner or later he would answer the call.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Really, now!” cried the inspector, “you have formed your opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is south, for the country is more deserted there.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For the love of goodness, child, exclaimed my aunt, don't call the woman by that South Sea Island name!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I went out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“By the last guns the boats were bearing away slightly to the south’ard.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This eclipse will occur in North and South America on December 25, but for the rest of the world, it will happen on December 26.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There's a strong current runs along the south, and then away nor'ard up the west coast.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I drove to the place—about two miles on the south side of Esher.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)