South
/saʊθ/noun
The direction opposite north; the southern part of a place or region.
Did you know?South comes from Proto-Germanic *sunþaz, a form believed to be connected to the sun’s path, which is why many ancient traditions treated directions as cosmic, not just geographic.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sóh₂wl̥
“the sun”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*sunþaz
“south, the direction of the sun”
Old English
OE
sūþ
“south”
Middle English
ME
south
“south; the southern region”
Modern English
English
south
“the direction opposite north; the southern part of a place or region”