northern

English · Français · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

northern¹

  • /ˈnɔː.ðən/ UK
  • [ˈnɔːðn̩] UK
  • /ˈnɒ.ðə(ɹ)n/ nonstandard
  • /ˈnɔɹ.ðɚn/ Canada, US
  • /ˈnoː.ðən/ Australia, New Zealand
  • [ˈnoːðn̩] Australia, New Zealand

Where it comes from

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.

adjective more northern · most northern · northernmost

  1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the north; northerly. Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages.
  2. of a wind Blowing from the north; northerly.
  3. UK Characteristic of the North of England (usually capitalised) Les Dawson was a famous northern comedian.

Similar: boreal, septentrional · Opposite: austral, meridional, southern

noun northerns

  1. An inhabitant of the northern regions; a northerner.
  2. The northern pike. As is the case with northerns, the female muskie, trailed by her attendant males, may broadcast eggs over several hundred yards.
  3. 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.

Northern²

adjective more Northern · most Northern

  1. UK Characteristic of the North of England (the North) (usually capitalised). Les Dawson was a famous Northern comedian.
  2. US Characteristic of the northern part of the United States (the North) (usually capitalised). 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!

proper noun Northerns

  1. A surname.
  2. The Northern Line of the London Underground.
  3. US, historical Any of several former railroads called the Northern Railroad in the 19th century. We don't move any freight on the Northern anymore.

noun Northerns

  1. A steam locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement. It takes something big, like a Northern, to pull a train of this size.

    Similar: Northern Pacific

  2. Canada A genre of fiction focusing on the untamed northern territory of Canada and sometimes Alaska, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I decided to kick back and lose myself in a good Northern for a while.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: boreal, septrional, yankee, federal, north, circumboreal, union, northerly, blue, north-central, northward, southern, north-east, northbound, northwestern, north-west

adjective

Similar: boreal, septentrional · Opposite: austral, meridional, southern

Translations

Every language

adj of wind

Portuguêsnorte
Françaisbise
Românănordic

adj facing, situated in or related to the north

Españolseptentrional, norteño, boreal
한국어북의 bug-ui, 북쪽의 bukjjog-ui
日本語北の kita no, 北方の hoppō no
中文北的 běi de, 北方的 běifāng de
हिन्दीउत्तरी uttarī
Portuguêssetentrional, nortenho, boreal
Françaisseptentrional, boréal
Deutschnördlich, Nord-
Italianosettentrionale, nordico, boreale
Ελληνικάβόρειος vóreios
Românănordic, boreal, septentrional
Русскийсе́верный sévernyj
Tiếng Việtbắc
العربيةشَمَالِيّ šamāliyy
עבריתצְפוֹנִי tsfoní

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"northern." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/northern. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

northern. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/northern

Chicago

"northern." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/northern.

BibTeX
@misc{northern_2026,
  title = {northern},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/northern},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}