Etymograph

English

southern

Southern comes from Old English sūþerne, from Proto-Germanic *sunþraz ‘south’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ ‘sun’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóh₂wl̥1‘sun’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂ún-teros1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunþraz1‘south, southern’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunþrōnijaz1‘southern’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sūþerne1‘southern’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500southerne1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1839southern1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English southern
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1839, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth: “Force prevails most with the northerns, reason with the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóh₂wl̥Wiktionary, English southern‘sun’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂ún-terosWiktionary, English southernreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunþrazWiktionary, English southern‘south, southern’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunþrōnijazWiktionary, English southern‘southern’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sūþerneWiktionary, English southern‘southern’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500southerneWiktionary, English southern
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1839southernWiktionary, English southern. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1839, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth: “Force prevails most with the northerns, reason with the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ ‘sun’

sun, solar, sol, helium, soleil, solano, parasol, 5 more

Today it means

adj Of, facing, situated in, or related to the south.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “southern”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ / southern

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