north
noun · adjective · adverb
Simple meaning
The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nawrthIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɔɹθ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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.
The direction in which a compass needle points
The up or positive direction.
The northern part of a region (alternative letter-case form of north), especially
US
The United States (especially the northern states during the American Civil War)
A number of townships in the United States, including in Indiana (2), Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio, listed under North Township; most are named named for their location.
adjective
Situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the north
Pertaining to the part of a corridor used by northbound traffic.
colloquial
More or greater than.
Toward the north; northward.
Of or pertaining to the north; northern.
adverb
Toward the north; northward; northerly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, north is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Critical but measured
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The compass point that is one point west of due north.
The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.
An agreement for free trade between the United States and Canada and Mexico.
One of the 13 states that constitute the Federation of Malaysia.
An equatorial current that flows west across the Pacific just north of the equator.
To, toward, or in the northeast.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
In or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line.
The compass point midway between north and east.
Any region lying in or toward the north.
An inhabitant of the North.
A wind that blows from the north.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.