▪ I. southing, vbl. n.
(ˈsaʊθɪŋ)
[f. south adv. or v. + -ing1.]
1. Of heavenly bodies: The action of crossing or approaching the meridian of a place.
| 1659 J. Moxon Globes ii. liv. (1674) 105 The Time of her Rising, Southing, Setting, and Shining. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 33 If I observ'd aright The southing of the Stars and Polar Light. 1786–7 Bonnycastle Astron. 435 Southing of the stars, the time when they culminate or come to the meridian. 1834 Keith Globes (1843) Cont. p. xxiii, To find the time of the Moon's southing..on any given day of the month. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 207 The gradual refrigeration of the ground, and the southing of the sun, produce..the north-east monsoon. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 39 Rising, Southing, and Setting of the Principal Planets, at intervals of Seven Days, for February. |
2. Progress, movement, or deviation towards the south made in sailing, travelling, etc.; difference in latitude due to moving southward. Chiefly in Navigation.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. xvii. 202 In the..tenth and eleventh Columns, set down the Northing, Southing, Easting, and Westing. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 641 Subtract the Lesser Northing or Southing from the Greater. 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 30 A strong Current..oblig'd us to correct our Southing considerably. 1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 370/2 Then they sum up all the northings, and all the southings. 1857 Livingstone Trav. v. 95 The prevailing winds..are easterly, with a little southing. 1868 Contemp. Rev. Apr. 600 In 1486 Diaz found the final southing of the protracted African coast-line. |
b. Freq. in the phr. to make (..) southing.
| 1803 Nelson 23 May in Nicolas Disp. (1845) V. 74 He would certainly make Southing with his Westing. 1844 Kinglake Eothen ii, After Adrianople I had made more southing than I knew for. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log Seawaif 178 We had always managed to make some Southing each day. |
Add: 3. Cartogr. and Surveying. Distance south of a point of origin or line of latitude.
| 1767 R. Gibson Treat. Pract. Surveying (ed. 2) v. 219 The Difference of Latitude, or the Northing or Southing of any Stationary Line, is the Distance that one End of the Line is North or South from the other End. Ibid. 221 If the Sum of the Northings be equal to that of the Southings, and the sum of the Eastings be equal to that of the Westings, the Field-Work is truly taken, otherwise not. 1804 T. Fenwick Treat. Subterraneous Surveying ii. 199 In whatever denomination the bearing length is, in the same denomination must the integral part of the northing or southing and easting or westing be. 1846 J. Gummere Treat. Surveying (ed. 14) i. 84 The Difference of Latitude, or the Northing or Southing of a line, is the distance that one end is further north or south than the other end. 1902 [see *northing vbl. n. 3]. 1950 J. Clendinning Princ. Surveying v. 57 Latitudes and departures are also sometimes called northings or southings and eastings or westings, according to the direction in which they run. 1972 W. Schofield Engin. Surveying I. iii. 102 The vertical axis is the North-South axis... Distances measured along the N-S axis are called latitudes;..those south of the origin are Southings and negative. |
▪ II. ˈsouthing, ppl. a. rare.
[f. as prec.]
Moving or tending towards the south.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 577 When next the Southing Sun inflames the Day. |