southern: Meaning and Definition of

south•ern

1. lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the south.
2. coming from the south, as a wind.
3. of or pertaining to the south.
4. (cap.) of or pertaining to the South of the United States.
5. being or located south of the celestial equator or of the zodiac: a southern constellation.

1. (often cap.) southerner (def. 2).
2. (cap.) the dialect of English spoken in the eastern parts of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, in Florida, in the southern parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and in southeastern Texas.

South•ern

1. 1924–95, U.S. novelist and screenwriter.