north
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /nɔːθ/
enpr: nôrth
ipa: /noɹθ/
ipa: [no̞ɹθ]
ipa: /noɹt/
ipa: /nɔəθ/
ipa: /noːθ/
note: without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /nɔː(ɹ)θ/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)θ
Forms: form: norths
Etymology: From Middle English north, from Old English norþ, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nér (“below (the surface)”). The meaning developed either from "region where the sun is below (the earth)" or from "left side of someone who turns to the east when praying".
Cognates
Cognate with various Germanic counterparts such as Yola noardth, nordh (“north”), North Frisian noor, nord, nuurd, Nuurđ (“north”), Saterland Frisian Noude, Nudde (“north”), West Frisian noard (“north”), Dutch noord (“north”), German Nord (“north”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk nord (“north”), Faroese, Icelandic norður (“north”), Swedish nord, norr (“north”); also with Ancient Greek νέρτερος (nérteros), ἐνέρτερος (enérteros, “below”), Russian нора (nora, “hole”), Lithuanian nėrōvė (“mermaid, nymph”), Oscan 𐌍𐌄𐌓𐌕𐌓𐌀𐌊 (nertrak, “left”), Umbrian nertru (“left”), Sanskrit नरक (naraka, “hell”), Tocharian B ñor (“below”).
Senses: examples: text: Minnesota is in the north of the USA.
related: word: N
glosses: The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.
examples: text: Stock prices are heading back towards the north.
glosses: The up or positive direction.
topics: natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: The positive or north pole of a magnet, which seeks the magnetic pole near Earth's geographic North Pole (which, for its magnetic properties, is a south pole).
examples: text: […] and after independence the north clung to sugar production longer than the south, with the result that when the north took […]
ref: 2002, Mats Lundahl, Politics or Markets?: Essays on Haitian Underdevelopment, Routledge, →ISBN:
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of North (“a northern region; the inhabitants thereof”).
examples: text: If candidates stand on the liturgical south facing the presider and liturgical assistants on the liturgical north, it will present better visual lines for the congregation than if they stand facing east and west with their backs toward the congregation.
ref: 1998, Leonel L. Mitchell, Pastoral and Occasional Liturgies: A Ceremonial Guide, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 49:
text: Many early Christian basilicas were designed with twin ambos for the proclamation of the epistle (on the liturgical south side) and the Gospel (on the north). The separation of the ambos indicated the distinction that should be accorded the Gospel, which was proclaimed from the north as if evangelization needed to happen to the geographically southern part of the world.
ref: 2011, Paul Turner, At the Supper of the Lamb: A Pastoral and Theological Commentary on the Mass, LiturgyTrainingPublications, →ISBN, page 27:
text: At St. Andrew's, ecclesiastical north, south, east, and west correspond to geographical northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest.
ref: 2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365:
text: The new St Mary's Anglican Church, Walkerville, has an attached rectory flanking to the liturgical south and an attached parish hall flanking to the liturgical north, both half-timbered in the Tudor Revival style. [Referring to a church that is oriented SSE, making "south" WSW]
ref: 2017, Cameron Macdonell, Ghost Storeys: Ralph Adams Cram, Modern Gothic Media, and Deconstructive Microhistory at a Canadian Church, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN:
topics: ecclesiastical
lifestyle
religion
glosses: In a church: the direction to the left-hand side of a person facing the altar.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Athens of the North
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: east by north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: east-northeast
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: east-north-east
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Far North
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: global north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: grid north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Hollywood North
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: king of the north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: magnetic north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Mid North
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: neighbor to the north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north and south
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northbound
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northbridge
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north by east
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north by northeast
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north by northwest
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north by west
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-caper
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northcentral
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northeast
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-east
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northeast by north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northeaster
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northeasterly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-easterly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northeastern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-eastern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: norther
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northerly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northerner
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northie
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northing
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Northman
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northeast
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north northeast
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-north-east
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northeasterly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northeastern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northeastward
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northeastwards
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northwest
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north northwest
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-north-west
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northwesterly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northwestern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northwestward
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-northwestwards
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north of
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north of 60
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north of sixty
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north of the border
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north of Watford
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northpaw
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-seeking pole
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northside
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north side
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northward
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwardly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwards
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwest
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwest by north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwesterly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-westerly
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: northwestern
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: north-western
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: Solid North
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: true north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: west by north
sense: Terms derived from north (noun)
word: west-north-west
Related terms: Norse