northern, a. and n.
(ˈnɔːθən)
Forms: 1–3 norþern-, 2–3 norðern-, 4–7 northerne, 6– northern; 4–5 northeren, 5 -erin, 6 -iren; 4 northrin, 6–7 -ren.
[f. north + -ern: cf. OHG. nordrôni ‘septentrio’, ON. norrœ́nn.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of persons or peoples: Living in, originating from, the north, esp. of England or of Europe.
| c 890 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 890, Godrum se norþerna cyning forþferde. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 356 Hine ᵹelæhton ða sume þæs norðernan folces. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1064, Þa norðerne men dydan mycelne hearme abutan Hamtune. c 1205 Lay. 31333 He þat norðerne uolc hæuede ineouðered ful swiðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 20063 Our aun Langage o northrin lede. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 33 Bot þe Northeren men held him no leaute. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 652 Meaning to have..a southrene Byll, to counteruayle a Northren bastard. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 873 Divers northern⁓men borne. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 533 Contention betweene the Northren and Southren Students at Oxford. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 338 When Agrican with all his Northern powers Besieg'd Albracca. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 415 ¶3 Frosts and Winters, which make the Northern Workmen lie half the Year Idle. 1773 Johnson 24 Feb. in Boswell, My northern friends have never been unkind to me. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 34 A powerful coalition of northern princes to resist the encroachments of Rome. 1884 Pennington Wiclif ii. 52 Wiclif, as a northern⁓man, had made common cause with the northern party. |
b. U.S. Belonging to the northern States.
| 1836 J. Q. Adams 10 June in Ford Adams & Monroe Doctr. (1902), The change of dynasty from the Tennessean Hero to the Northern Man with Southern principles. 1849 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 35 These Northern settlers are compelled to preserve a discreet silence..when in the society of Southern slave-owners. 1890 Henty With Lee in Virg. 96 In Virginia it was very seldom that the Northern generals could obtain any trustworthy information. |
c. northern canoe = north canoe.
| 1820 R. Hood To Arctic (1974) 110 Late on the 21st Mr. Robertson, of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived, and furnished us with a guide, but desired that he might be exchanged when we met the northern canoes. 1860 S. Hancock Narr. (1927) 163 What is termed a northern canoe is much larger and differently shaped from those made and used by the Indians south of the Straits of Fuca. 1867 J. T. Rothrock Flora Alaska 434 From it the celebrated ‘northern canoes’ are made. These canoes, ‘dug’ from a single trunk and afterwards steamed into shape, will often carry four tons. 1938 Beaver Dec. 13/1 The northern canoe carried a crew of five or six men, apart from passengers. 1954 M. W. Campbell Nor' Westers 44 Each northern canoe held twenty-five ninety-pound packs instead of the sixty loaded into the Montreal canoes. |
2. Of the wind: Blowing from the north.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. vi. 14 Eac þa ruman sæ norþerne yst nede ᵹebædeð. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 209 A norþerne wind faste blevȝ. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xvi. 51 Blow, northerne wynd, Sent thou me my suetyng. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. iii. (Bodl. MS.), Borias þe norþeren winde..ariseþ vnder þe sterre þat hat polus articus. 1480 Chron. Eng. (Caxton) ccxxxii. 252 That northren wynde is euer redy and destinat to all euell. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. ii. xiii. (1622) 51 The northren winds droue him backe againe. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 219 Another cold northern blast benummed her. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. i. 116 The northern winds are never to be apprehended. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 60 Where the woods fence off the northern blast. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. iii. 110 A northern whirl⁓wind..Shook the boughs. |
3. a. Of things: Belonging or pertaining to, found in, produced by, characteristic of, the north.
northern dozens, northern morn(ing), northern whites: see the ns.
| 1387 [see B. 1 a]. 1428–9 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 70 A tonne..of northerin ston for þe new chirche porche. 1611 Bible Jer. xv. 12 Shall yron breake the Northren yron, and the steele? 1682 Dryden Mac-Fl. 170 Sir Formal..attends thy quill And does thy northern dedications fill. 1748 Hume Ess., Nat. Characters, The more southern [languages] are smooth and melodious, the northern harsh and untuneable. 1786 H. Tooke Purley ii. iv. (1829) II. 272 The Northern origin [of language] is totally out of sight. 1813 Scott Trierm. iii. xxiv, Pallid beams of northern day. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. i. 23 The old woman with the northern eyes. |
b. In the specific designations of animals or plants, as Northern diver, Northern holy-grass, Northern sea-cow: see the ns. Northern Spy, an American variety of red-skinned, late-ripening, dessert apple.
| 1847 J. M. Ives New England Bk. Fruit 46 Northern Spy.—This new native fruit, originated near Rochester, N. York. It is a fine winter apple, and is one of the most popular fruits in New York. 1850 New England Farmer II. 404 Northern Spy Apple. We had hoped to be able to test the qualities of this apple ourselves. 1860 Hogg Fruit Man. 19 Northern Spy... An American apple, which ripens well in this country. 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. i, A seedling apple, like the Northern Spy. 1917 D. Canfield Understood Betsy iii. 61 Those Northern Spies are just getting to be good about now. When they first come off the tree in October you could shoot them through an oak plank. Ibid. xi. 241 A basket..half full of striped red Northern Spies. 1944 Poetry Chap Bk. Fall 14 And fragrant windrows of crisp Northern Spies Are scattered in the tumbled twisted sheaves. 1965 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 15 Jan. (1970) 221 ‘What are your best brands [of apple]?’ asked Gromyko. Without hesitation and with honesty General McNaughton replied, ‘Our best brands are Northern Spies and McIntosh Reds.’ |
4. a. Lying or situated to the northward; having a position relatively north.
northern car, northern crown, northern hemisphere: see the ns.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 14 Albanact had all the Northerne part. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iv. xix. (1636) 466 The crowne of Ariadna..is commonly called..the Northerne Crowne. 1600 Fairfax Tasso iii. lxiv, Against the northren gate his force he bent. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 210 The Pleiads, Hyads, and the Northern Car. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 572 The Northern Ocean bounds the Land also on that side. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. ii. 136 We espied a sail in the northern quarter. 1818 Shelley Apennines 4 Like the sea on a northern shore. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 4 The Reformation, the great revival of northern Europe. |
b. Northern star = North star.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 60, I am constant as the Northerne Starre. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 353 We saw again the Northern Star to our great Joy. 1748 Gray Alliance 68 The influence of the northern star. 1847 Tennyson Princ. i. 4 On my cradle shone the Northern star. |
c. Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis.
| 1721 Phil. Trans. XXXI. 215 If any enquire farther, Why the Northern Lights have of late been so unusually frequent. 1775 Ibid. LXVIII. 410 Northern lights to Northward. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. viii, He knew, by the streamers that shot so bright, That spirits were riding the northern light. 1860 Chambers's Encycl. I. 558 The term Polar Lights would be more appropriate than Northern Lights to designate the aurora. |
5. Taking place, carried on, in the north.
| 1589 Cooper Admon. 248 In the Northren rebellion. 1669 Lady Chaworth in Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. V. 12 They talk heere as if the King would goe a northerne progresse this summer. |
6. quasi-adv. In the northern manner.
| a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 97 He speakes Northerne, what Country-man soever. |
B. n.
† 1. a. Northern men. Obs. rare.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 26 Þorȝh þe gode Northeren slayn wer ilkaman. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 163 Men of myddel Engelond..vunderstondeþ bettre þe side langages, norþerne and souþerne, þan northerne and souþerne vnderstondeþ eiþer oþer. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxii. 958 He durst not trust The Northern, which so oft to him had been unjust. Ibid. 968 To whom by this revolt, they many Northern drew. |
† b. Northern cloth. Obs. rare—1.
| a 1592 Greene Jas. IV, iv. iii, Let my doublet be white northern, five groats the yard. |
2. a. A native of the north.
| 1774 Low Tour Orkney & Schetl. (1879) 107 This kind of poetry being..most fitted to the genius of the Northerns. 1813 Eustace Class. Tour (1821) III. iv. 123 In the opinion of a phlegmatic northern. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! (1865) II. 73 Cold Northerns, you little dream how a Spaniard can love. 1871 Daily News 16 Aug., Sir Walter Scott..is our common countryman. He made us northerns and us southerns conscious of one flesh and blood. |
b. A north wind.
| 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 750 He tore it into pieces small as snow That drifts unfeather'd when bleak northerns blow. |
Hence ˈnorthern v., to become more northern.
| 1757 Grose Voy. E. Indies 365 As the land northerns, the continent grows broader and broader. 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVIII. 131 The finer wools,..as the latitude northerns, become thicker and more plentiful. |