Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “meridional” come from?

Meridional comes from Middle French meridional, from Latin meridionalis, formed from Latin medidies meaning "midday" and the suffix -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European médʰyos meaning "middle."

meridional (English): located in the south, southern; later especially,...

Definitions

  1. located in the south, southern; later especially,...

Ancestry of “meridional”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchmeridional—
2Latinmerīdiōnālis—
3Latinmerīdiēs—
4Latinmedīdiēs—
5Latindiēs—
6Proto-Italicdjēmaccusative singular of *djous
7Proto-Italic*djous—
8Proto-Indo-Europeandyḗwssky, heaven; sky god
9Proto-Indo-Europeandyéws—
10Proto-Indo-Europeandyew-to be bright; sky, heaven

Words derived from “meridional”

  • meridionally
  • meridionality
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dyew- →