adj
Meaning 1
Of, facing, situated in, or related to the north; northerly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
northern
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ˈnɔː.ðən/
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UK: [ˈnɔːðn̩]
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nonstandard: /ˈnɒ.ðə(ɹ)n/
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Canada, General-American: /ˈnɔɹ.ðɚn/
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Canada, General-American: nôr′thərn
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Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈnoː.ðən/
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Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈnoːðn̩]
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: N AO1 R DH ER0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Blowing from the north; northerly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Characteristic of the North of England (usually capitalised)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
Examples
- Les Dawson was a famous northern comedian.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Characteristic of the North of England (the North) (usually capitalised).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
Examples
- Les Dawson was a famous Northern comedian.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Characteristic of the northern part of the United States (the North) (usually capitalised).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Examples
- She's a Northern girl, so she had to ask what hush puppies and mudbugs are. We were happy to serve her the answer on a platter!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 6
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 7
The Northern Line of the London Underground.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 8
Any of several former railroads called the Northern Railroad in the 19th century.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, historical
Examples
- We don't move any freight on the Northern anymore.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
An inhabitant of the northern regions; a northerner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
The northern pike.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: fishing, hobbies, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A film or other dramatic work set primarily in the late 19th or early 20th century in the north of North America, primarily in western Canada but also in Alaska, often with a Mountie as the protagonist.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
A steam locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport
Examples
- It takes something big, like a Northern, to pull a train of this size.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Northern Pacific
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A genre of fiction focusing on the untamed northern territory of Canada and sometimes Alaska, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada
Examples
- I decided to kick back and lose myself in a good Northern for a while.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 14
situated in or coming from regions of the north
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the northern hemisphere
- northern autumn colors
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: southern
adjective
Meaning 15
in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Northern liberals
- northern industry
- northern cities
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: southern
adjective satellite
Meaning 16
coming from the north; used especially of wind
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the north wind doth blow
- a northern snowstorm
- the winds are northerly
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: northerly
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 17
situated in or oriented toward the north
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the northern suburbs
- going in a northerly direction
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: northerly
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 18
a dialect of Middle English that developed into Scottish Lallans
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Middle English
History
Etymology
From Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn. Morphologically north + -ern.
Across languages
Translations
114 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: verior — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Arabic: شَمَالِيّ (šamāliyy) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Armenian: հյուսիսային (hyusisayin) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Azerbaijani: şimali — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Azerbaijani: quzey — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Basque: iparreko — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Belarusian: паўно́чны (pawnóčny) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Bengali: উত্তর (uttor) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Bulgarian: се́верен (séveren) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Burmese: တောင် (taung) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Catalan: septentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Chinese Mandarin: 北方 (běifāng) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Chinese Mandarin: 北 (běi) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Corsican: settentriunale — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Czech: severní — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Danish: nordlig — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Dutch: noordelijk — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Esperanto: norda — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Estonian: põhjamaine — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Estonian: põhja- — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Finnish: pohjois- — facing, situated in or related to the north
- French: septentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- French: boréal — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Galician: setentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Georgian: ჩრდილოეთის (črdiloetis) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Georgian: ჩრდილოური (črdilouri) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Georgian: ჩრდილოეთით (črdiloetit) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Georgian: ჩრდილოეთიდან (črdiloetidan) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Georgian: ჩრდილოეთისა (črdiloetisa) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- German: nördlich — facing, situated in or related to the north
- German: Nord- — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Greek: βόρειος (vóreios) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Ancient Greek: βόρειος (bóreios) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Hebrew: צְפוֹנִי (tsfoní) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Hindi: उत्तरी (uttarī) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Hungarian: északi — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Icelandic: norður — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Ingrian: pohjain — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Irish: tuaisceartach — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Irish: thuaidh — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Italian: settentrionale — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Italian: nordico — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Italian: boreale — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Japanese: 北 (kita) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Javanese: lor — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Javanese: lèr — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Kazakh: солтүстік (soltüstık) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Khmer: ខាងជើង (khaang cəəng) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Korean: 북쪽의 (bukjjogui) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Central Kurdish: باکوری (bakurî) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Northern Kurdish: bakurî — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Kyrgyz: түндүк (tündük) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Lao: ເຫນືອ (nư̄a) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Latin: boreālis — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Latin: borēus — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Latvian: ziemeļu — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Lithuanian: šiaurinis — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Lithuanian: šiaurės — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Macedonian: северен (severen) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Malayalam: വടക്കൻ (vaṭakkaṉ) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Malayalam: ഉത്തര (uttara) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Manchu: ᠠᠮᠠᡵᡤᡳ (amargi) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Norwegian Bokmål: nordlig — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Occitan: septentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Pashto: شمالي (šamāli) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Persian: شمالی (šomâli) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Plautdietsch: nuadna — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Polish: północny — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Portuguese: setentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Portuguese: nortenho — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Portuguese: boreal — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Romanian: nordic — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Romanian: boreal — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Romanian: septentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Russian: се́верный (sévernyj) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Scots: norlin — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Scottish Gaelic: a tuath — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Scottish Gaelic: tuath — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Serbo-Croatian: се̏ве̄рнӣ — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Serbo-Croatian: сје̏ве̄рнӣ — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Serbo-Croatian: sȅvērnī — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Serbo-Croatian: sjȅvērnī — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Slovak: severný — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Slovene: severen — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Upper Sorbian: sewjerny — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Spanish: septentrional — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Spanish: norteño — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Spanish: boreal — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Swedish: nordlig — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Tagalog: kahilagaan — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Tajik: шимолӣ (šimoli) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Thai: เหนือ (nʉ̌ʉa) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Tocharian B: oṣṣaleṣṣe — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Turkish: kuzey — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Turkmen: demirgazyk — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Ukrainian: півні́чний (pivníčnyj) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Urdu: شُمالی (śumālī) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Uyghur: شىمالىي (shimaliy) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Uzbek: shimoliy — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Vietnamese: bắc — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Volapük: nolüdik — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Welsh: gogleddol — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Yakut: хоту (qotu) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Yiddish: צפֿונדיק (tsofndik) — facing, situated in or related to the north
- Finnish: pohjoinen — of wind
- Finnish: pohjois- — of wind
- French: bise — of wind
- Georgian: ჩრდილოეთის ქარი (črdiloetis kari) — of wind
- Ancient Greek: βόρειος (bóreios) — of wind
- Polish: północny — of wind
- Portuguese: norte — of wind
- Romanian: nordic — of wind
- Scottish Gaelic: a tuath — of wind
- Finnish: pohjoisenglantilainen — characteristic of North of England
Real reading context