1. (Abbr. S)
   1. The direction along a meridian 90° clockwise from east; the direction to the right of sunrise.
   2. The cardinal point on the mariner's compass 180° clockwise from due north and directly opposite north.
2. An area or region lying in the south.
3. often South
   1. The southern part of the earth.
   2. The southern part of a region or country.
4. South The southern part of the United States, especially the states that fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

1. To, toward, of, facing, or in the south.
2. Originating in or coming from the south: a hot south wind.

1. In, from, or toward the south.
2. Slang. Into a worse or inferior position, as of decreased value: a stock that went south shortly after he bought it.

[Middle English, from Old English sūth.]

WORD HISTORY   Though a south-facing house on the north side of a street sometimes gets more sun, etymologically speaking, the sunny side of the street is the south side. "South" in Old English was sūth. This came from an earlier *sunth, from a still earlier *sunthaz, "sunny," whose first element, *sun-, means "sun." As the first word in compounds, Old English sūth was subject to shortening, showing up in Modern English pronounced (sŭ). This is seen in place names like Suffolk (where the "south folk" were; compare Norfolk), Sutton, "south town," and Sussex, the location of the "South Saxons" (whose eastern and western cousins were located in Essex and Wessex, respectively).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.